Ella Enchanted

Levine, G. C. (1997). Ella enchanted. New York: Scholastic.

In this modern version of the Cinderella tale, young Ella was given a “gift” by  fairy named Lucinda of obedience. Even though they pleaded, Ella’s mother and cook, Mandy, could not convince Lucinda to undo the curse. So, Ella lived her life, unable to deny the following of a direct command. A wish or a request could be ignored, but any order, Ella had to obey. She could try to fight it or delay, but it was inevitable. Ella’s mother, at a young age after an incident with a young girl in town, ordered her to never tell anyone about her curse. When Ella was fifteen, her mother got ill and died. At her mother’s funeral, she has he first encounter with Prince Charmont, which later she affectionately refers to as Char. He talks with Ella about how enjoyed her mother and how she always made him laugh. Ella seems to take the same sentiments with the Prince: he is continuously laughing at her clumsiness or humor. After the funeral, the reader is introduced to Dame Olga and her two daughters: Olive and Hattie. They are rude and ornery  girls who only care about their riches. After the Olga family leaves, Ella finds herself with Mandy, who reveals she is in fact Ella’s fairy godmother. She pleads with her to do magic but she refuses, stating that big magic is only for fairies like Lucinda. After the passing of his wife, Sir Peter, Ella’s father, decides to send Ella to finishing school. Here, once again, the Olga sisters come into play, as Ella accompanies them to finishing school. Mandy sadly says farewell, giving Ella her mother’s pearl necklace and an enchanted storybook. On the way there, Hattie figures out that if you order Ella to do something she must do it. She doesn’t understand that it is a curse but it is still dangerous to Ella. Once at finishing school, Ella struggles with needlepoint, singing, handwriting, and basically everything that they practice. She has gained an enemy in Hattie who uses her knowledge of Ella to benefit herself. But she also gains a friend in a young girl named Areida. Ella also figures out that her story book from Mandy is enchanted, letting her see her Father’s communications, as well as Char’s in the book. With some time, Ella begins to do better at finishing school but Hattie will simply not let her have any peace. While Hattie orders her no longer be friends with Areida, she decides to run away from finishing school and meet up with her father at a giant’s wedding where Lucinda will hopefully appear. In her travels, she gets surrounded by some ogres but learns to overtake them by using their language against them. In this fiasco, Prince Charmont and some of his men meet up with Ella. Char and Ella are happy to be reunited and many of the men notice how happy Char appears around Ella. Ella leaves Char and continues on to the wedding, where she confronts Lucinda, as an unknown, and asks her to undo the curse. Lucinda refuses and instead tells her to embrace the curse and love it. Ella returns home with her father, who now reveals he is broke. His only chance of redemption lies in marrying someone rich. Much to Ella’s dismay, he remarries Dame Olga and Hattie and Olive become  her step-sisters.  Char returns to her at the wedding, stating that he is off to travel to a different land for a year, as a custom . He and Ella agree to exchange letters. Dame Olga and her two step-sisters begin to treat Ella as a servant, as Ella’s father is out-of-town working. Ella never reveals this to Char and they send letters continuously back and forth. Finally, Char reveals his love for Ella and asks her to marry him. Ella is ecstatic at first, but soon realizes her curse would be a threat to Char and the kingdom. She replies to him, as Hattie, saying “Ella” has married someone new and that she has deceived him. Char is heartbroken and returns home after his year is up to throw a series of three balls. Ella wishes to go the balls and with the help of Lucinda, who has had a change of heart thanks to Mandy, helps her to go. The masquerade ball allows Ella to remain as an unknown, but can she ever win back the love of Char? What will happen to Ella? Is the curse ever broken?

Read Ella Enchanted to find out what becomes of Ella and Prince Char! 

This modern twist on an old classic fairytale would truly be an excellent fantasy reader to use with 5^th-8^th grade students. This is definitely a fantasy story having elements that are beyond the realm of possibility. There are fairies, ogres, giants, and even the classic pumpkin-being-turned-into-a-carriage escapade. Even Ella’s curse of being obedient is the magic that is thread throughout the course of the entire story. On page 202, the classic Cinderella details come to life. Lucinda turns a pumpkin into a carriage, mice into horses,  a rat into a coachman, and six lizards into footmen. In her travels to the giant’s wedding, Ella meets up with elves and ogres! All of these details and many more are outside the realm of reality, all contributing to this delightful fantasy tale.

One of the big issues in this novel is the issue of conflict. There are many forms of it that run through the story. There is a person vs. self conflict that Ella deals with the entire story. She tries very hard at times, to the point of being dizzy, breathless and almost passing out, to defy the curse but in the end she always loses. She is very resentful to Lucinda for bestowing this curse on her. Once Lucinda orders her to love and accept the curse, her frame of mind changes briefly, but she is still following an order.  At the very end of the story, around page 224, the final battle begins and Char asks Ella to marry him. She wants deeply to say yes but Hattie buts in and orders her to refuse. You read this battle going on inside of Ella’s mind where she is screaming inside to say “YES!” but the curse is not allowing her to do so.  There is also several person vs. person conflicts throughout the story as well. Ella is trapped in this battle with her eventual step-sister Hattie who figures out the curse and uses it to abuse Ella. There is a conflict between Ella and Lucinda, which Ella battles to prove to her that the curse is no good and she must undo it. Ella also have conflict with her father, who seems uninterested in Ella’s true well being, using her as simply a pawn to help clean of the mess he made with his life. 

The protagonist of the story is clearly Ella. She is fully described throughout the story and I think Levine gives the reader a great insight into her character by allowing the reader to read her thoughts and well as her actions. The battle with herself, in her mind with the curse, is clearly evident. She is a funny, quirky girl who cares deeply for those closest to her. Her relationship with Char and Mandy, those she cares about, as well as those with whom she despises, Olga and Hattie, are shown in great detail. 

Young girls would love to read this story and I think they would become entranced with Ella and the struggles she goes through. I had a really hard time putting this book down because you never know what will come next and what is going to happen. Every young girl struggles with some “weakness” in her life and Ella really overcomes this! There is this sense of good vs. evil and that is always intriguing to readers.

I think the Twitter Tweet activity would be great for this book. Levine gives the author so many insights on to what Ella is thinking that young students could easily replicate this is a humorous way. My tweet for Ella and the ogres would be: “Cook myself? Is that an order? #obdienceproblems.”

Some BIG questions while reading would be:  Why do you think Lucinda feels like these are “gifts” and not curses? Compare and contrast the original Cinderella with Ella Enchanted? What is the same? Different? How is Ella always in constant danger with the curse? What kind of man is Ella’s father? If you were Ella, would you rather be happy to live with curse or struggle with it? What do you think was the worst gift given by Lucinda?

The Girl Whol Loved Wild Horses

Goble, P. (1978). The girl who loved wild horses. New York: Scholastic.

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses is a Plains Indians tale of how the Native Americans express their love of nature and animals. In this story, a young Native American girl spends a lot of time with the wild horses that travel with their tribe. She would care and protect those horses constantly and everyone in her tribe knew of her love for the horses. On one hot summer day, she laid down and fell asleep with the fresh breeze and the scent of rain.  She is unaware of the brewing storm that is rolling across the plains. When a sudden bolt of lightning and thunder that shook the earth, she awoke to find the horses scattering in terror. She quickly jumped on the back of a black stallion and tried to calm the horses but her efforts were useless. The wild horses galloped away frantically to safety away from the storm, the whole time, the young girl stayed with them. They ran faster and farther away from the young girl’s camp and only stopped when they reached beyond the storm. They were in a place unknown to the girl and while she was afraid, she continued to comfort the horses. The next morning she was awakened by a miraculous sight: a beautiful, spotted stallion that was more handsome than any horse she had ever dreamed about, appeared to her and told her he was the leader of wild horses. He invited her to live and stay with them and she agreed. The people of her village looked for her tirelessly but to no avail. A year later, two hunters spotted her and returned to the village to share with the people what they had seen. They sent out many men on their fastest horses to find the young girl. They struggled to catch her on the beautiful spotted stallion and only caught her when the horse tripped and she fell off. They returned with her to the village. She was excited and happy to see her family yet she longed to return to the wild horses. Soon after returning, she fell ill and no doctor could cure her sickness. Everyone is at a loss on what to do! 

What will happen to the girl? Read The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses to find out!

  

This is a multicultural picture book that discusses the relationship that the Native Americans had with nature. The illustrations, which were also done by Goble, are remarkable. This was a recipient of the Caldecott Medal in 1979. It appears as if the illustrations have been done with oil paintings or some other bold media. The colors are vibrant and would appeal to children. The horses and other animals drawn in the book are very lifelike and would be easily recognizable to children. The illustrations complement the plot and allow for the reader to follow the story. The story is multicultural because it deals with the legends of the Native American people.The illustrations and the words on the page definitely display a sense of imagery. The words almost come alive as you read them. At one point in the story, the girl is on a black stallion trying to escape the hunters looking for her. Goble describes the horse saying, "His eyes shone like cold stars. He snorted and his hooves struck as fast as lightning." Goble's use of this and other similes really makes the story come to life in your mind. This would be a good trade book to use for visualizing as well.

 

This story would be an excellent cross-curricular trade book to read with students. In 2^nd grade, we study Native American tribes. One thing we learn about is their deep connection with nature and how they pass on legends from person to person. This would be the perfect example of a text to do that. In the past, I have used Tommie dePaola’s book The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush and this is a similar text that you could use to get the same ideas across. The illustrations in the book would be an excellent example to show how they lived in tipi’s, what kinds of things they wore as clothes and how they hunted on the plains. They also show great detail in the clothing that they wore and the various embellishments that the others in the tribe fashioned. The setting, on the plains, is very realistic and would give the readers a good picture of what life was like for these Plains Native Americans.

At the end of the story, there are two Native American songs about horses. After reading and discussing the story and the legend, you could also have students write their own songs or poems about a horse. Then they could illustrate their song or poem to match the style of Goble’s. Children could also, as another enrichment activity with art, design their own tipi’s to match those of the drawings in the book, mimicking the designs and patterns.

BIG Questions to use with students while reading this story: Why do you think the girl felt such a connection to the horses? If you were her family, explain how you would feel knowing she wanted to leave you and go live with the horses? Why do you think nature was so important to Native American people? 

Duck for President!

Cronin, D. (2004). Duck for president. New York: Scholastic. 

Duck for President is the comic tale of what happens when the duck at Farmer Brown’s farm gets bored with his everyday life. Mowing the yard, taking out the trash and grinding up the coffee beans are just no fun for Duck anymore! Duck is tired of doing these chores on the farm and he takes matters into his own hands and decides to have an election on the farm. Duck wants to replace Farmer Brown as the leader! After campaigning around the farm for a kinder, gentler farm, Duck wins the election and replaces Farmer Brown as the leader of the farm. After a while, Duck realizes what hard work it is to run the farm, and decides to run for governor. Duck and his staff campaign hard, giving speeches and going to town meetings. After all the votes have been counted,  Duck wins the election once again! After each day as governor, Duck starts to realize that it is hard work running a state as well! Duck makes a decision that being governor is simply not good enough and he begins to campaign for president! Duck hits the campaign trail, riding in parades, kissing babies, and even making appearances on late night television! After the election results are tallied, Duck wins in the presidency! After tackling the presidency for a bit, Duck realizes that running a country is very hard work! Duck decides that once again he needs a change! 

To find out what Duck gets into next, read Duck for President!

This comical story comes from author Doreen Cronin, who also wrote the popular book Click, Click, Moo: Cows that Type, as well as the book Diary of a Worm. That is the reason I was attracted to this book in the first place! I love Click, Clack, Moo and will read it several times a year with my students; there are so many strategies and skills you can use that book for and I was hopeful for the same in this book! And Cronin delivers once again with another hilarious tale of the animals at Farmer Brown’s farm.  In this fantasy picture book, the animals on the farm display an extreme amount of personification: they are equals to the people in the book. They are participating in elections, giving speeches and running for president! The illustrations definitely help with portraying the sense that the animals are like people.  The illustrations, which have been beautifully done with watercolor, are soft and warm on the farm, conveying a sense of home and comfort.  As the Duck wins elections and moves on, the colors become more vibrant and the lines in the drawings become more defined, which makes it appear more serious! Also, the illustrator, Betsy Lewin, was able to convey a lot of humor and even some of the plot through the illustrations. Like on the page where it is discussing Duck’s campaign for the presidency, they show him on late night television. Adults reading the story will realize from the picture that Letterman is in the background! Also, on the very last page, Duck is working on a computer and there is a typewriter in the trashcan next to him. If one has read, Click, Clack, Moo, they would understand the humor in this because at the end of the story the cows had given Duck the typewriter! Farmer Brown’s shock and horror as he gets out-voted as the leader of the farm is also shown in his expressions in the illustrations! 

This would be an excellent trade book for social studies, especially when learning about government leaders and the campaign/election process. It builds from leader of the farm, to the governor, to the president so it would be excellent to show leaders at state and national level in a fun and humorous way. Also when teaching students about elections and how candidates campaign, there are examples of the Duck going to town meetings, giving speeches and how the votes are counted to determine a winner! These sometimes dry and boring topics are given new life through this comical story! Students would love reading about this ambitious Duck but while they read, they would also be learning about our government in the process.  This would be an excellent book that would work for children grades K-5^th grade.  Even though it is a picture book, the humor and content would appeal to older readers. 

Some BIG questions you could discuss with the students while reading would be: How do you think Duck thought being President would really be like? Why do you think Duck kept running for a different office? Why do you believe that Duck was so unhappy on the farm? Do you think Duck would have done anything differently? What might that be? What do you think Duck enjoyed the most as he ran for office? Why do you think that? Would you ever want to run for President and why?

Hooway for Wodney Wat

Lester, H. (1999). Hooway for wodney wat. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Poor Rodney is a rat, a simple rodent, who cannot pronounce his “r”’s so he gets teased and called Wodney Wat. Other kids at school make fun of him and trick him into saying things. They ask him questions like, “What’s another for a bunny?” and Wodney sadly replies, “A wabbit”. Wodney becomes the most quiet, shy rat in school. One day, a new and large rodent, Camilla Capybara joins the classroom. She is bigger, meaner and smarter than all the other rodents she claims. All day long she proves she is smarter than everyone in a very obnoxious way. When it is time for recess, Miss Fuzzleworth, their teacher, pulls out a name to be the leader of Simon Says. And who does she pull out to lead? None other than Wodney Wat himself! Wodney fears all the mean things that Camilla may do to him! When they begin the game, Wodney squeaks out quietly his first direction while hiding in his jacket, “Wodney says weed the sign”. While the other rodents, who are aware of Wodney’s speech impairment, read the sign in front of them, Camilla begins to pull the weeds around the sign! As the other rodents begin to laugh at Camilla, Wodney’s confidence begins to grow! As he continues to give the class instructions, like “Wake the leaves”, the other children do what Wodney “says” and rake the leaves, while Camilla takes it literally and begins shouting at the leaves to wake up! Wodney emerges from his jacket and his voice grows stronger every time as his fear of Camilla diminishes. The rest of the rodents are just tickled by what Camilla is doing and she grows frustrated as the game continues. And finally, in a loud voice so stronger he had to cover his own ears, Wodney gives the class one final direction.

To find out what happens to Wodney, Camilla and the rest of the rodents of P.S. 142 Elementary School, read the book Hooway for Wodney Wat. 

This is an excellent fantasy book to use with all ages. This picture book has some very intriguing illustrations that help to tell the story along with the words. The illustrations are done cartoon style, with most likely oil paints or watercolors. They are in bright colors that would appeal to children! The illustrator, who is Lynn Munsinger, has paid close attention to the details in the story to convey the plot and describe the characters. Wodney is this shy quiet rat, so in the illustrations is shown with his head under his desk when his teacher is talking to him or with his jacket over his head on the playground sitting alone. Throughout the day in the classroom when Camilla arrives, they show Wodney in every situation completely hiding in his jacket: you can tell by just looking at the pictures that he is completely terrified of Camilla. Also, later, as they play Simon Says, the illustrations show Wodney’s confidence grow as he emerges from under his jacket and a smile begins to show on his face!

This book could be used with all elementary aged children (K-5) in any setting.

This would be a great story to show elements of fantasy because in every illustration and throughout the story personification is present. The rodents are in school, talking, playing at recess and wearing clothes: they act just like the kids in a classroom would act! One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Camilla is shouting answers across the room to prove she is smarter and all the “students” and the “teacher” just look shocked and appalled at this rodent who has barged into their classroom and taken over. The looks on their faces are priceless and the illustrator really conveyed their emotions on the pages. 

Another great use for this book would be for bullying. Kids reading this book would feel bad for Wodney and then get extremely excited when he saves the day! This would be an excellent read to show kids that even though some people may be a little different or have a speech impairment, or look differently, that doesn’t mean that they should be treated differently or teased. They, maybe one day, will be the hero! Helen Lester takes the tricky subject and often difficult to discuss with children about how people are different and adds humor and laughter to it, while also making it relatable to children. 

These are some of the BIG questions I would use while discussing this story: How do you think Wodney felt knowing he couldn’t pronounce his “r”’s? How might the other rodents have treated Wodney in a different way? Why do you think Camilla acted the way she acted? What do you think happened to Camilla? Do you think she learned her lesson?  Talk about a time that you felt like Wodney: what did you do?