Thursday, November 8, 2012

Imagination




 
Picture Book Month 
Day 8 theme: Imagination


What would you do if your bunny was missing? 
You would go into "the Woods" to find him?

The Woods


The Woods 
by Paul Hoppe
Visit the author/illustrator's website

(Publisher description-Chronicle Books)
Being afraid of the dark doesn't mean being afraid alone. When a boy can't find his favorite stuffed bunny, he bravely heads into the woods to look for it. Instead, he finds a big, scary brown bear! But the  bear is just lonely, so the boy shares his night light and forges ahead with his new companion, until...they run into two frightening giants! As the boy continues on, he comes across other seemingly menacing creatures, but finds that—like him—they're just looking for some comfort and security before bedtime.

Why I love to use this book:
Children relate easily to this story. Many sleep with their own special stuffed toys to help them through dark and sometimes scary nights. It also offers them a chance to hear an age appropriate scary story when affecting a spooky sounding voice. Children like to make predictions about what is coming up next and enjoy when they discover the new scary character is not so bad after all.

Themes:
Imagination
Being afraid of the dark
Discovering solutions to problems

How I use this story.

1 box full of the type of stuff toys a child would sleep with at night (must have a bunny and a bear).
1 scary voice to tell the story
1 explanation of why I am using a scary voice (to make the story more interesting) this is an entry level "scary" book.

Ask children these questions:
What is pretend?
How do people use their imagination?
Are stories always real?
Are you sometimes afraid of the dark?

I next show them some of the toys I used to sleep with when I was little and tell them their willy names. Skunky the skunk and Spotty the spotted dog. I also had a one eye cat but I forgot his name.  I ask them "who sleeps with a toy at night?" All hands are raised and so I follow with this book synopsis.

This is the story of a boy who has lost his favorite bunny and does not want to go to sleep without it. The boy uses his imagination to try to find his bunny. He pretends the woods (a forest) has grown up in his bedroom and he has to go into "the woods" to try to find his bunny.

This is a highly enjoyable story and the children love the use of a scary voice and often join in and try to say scary things too. It's fun to predict what will appear each time the boy goes deeper into the woods.

I give this wonderful bedtime or anytime tale a solid A plus plus!






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