CLASSIC SENDAK STORYTIME KIT - HarperCollins Publishers

CLASSIC SENDAK STORYTIME KIT In celebration of the legacy of Maurice Sendak and the fiftieth anniversary of Where the Wild Things Are

Revisit beloved titles and discover new favorites with: 41 Sendak classics to read and reread Conversation starters to explore Activities for creating mischief of one kind and another

Celebrate Sendak and 50 WILD YEARS!

CLASSIC SENDAK STORYTIME KIT THE TRILOGY

CONVERSATIONS Explore the depth of Maurice Sendak’s books with these discussion topics. • Discuss why you think that Maurice Sendak considered these books part of a trilogy. • The illustrations in these books seem to be in completely different styles. However, there are many similarities that identify them as Sendak books. Discuss what is unique about the art in each book and note what is similar. • How do the illustrations reflect the text of each book? • Max, Mickey, and Ida all come home in the end. Discuss how home plays a role in each book and how the idea of home might mean something different to different people.

ACTIVITIES Inspired by the creativity and imagination of Maurice Sendak, these activities provide ideas for creating mischief of one kind and another. • A Private Boat for Max. In Where the Wild Things Are, Max sails off through night and day in a private boat. Have kids create their own toy boats so they can sail to where the wild things are! Try using Popsicle sticks or Styrofoam or create boats out of origami. Once everyone has his or her boat, find a suitable location to launch them—a pond, a lake, or even a rain gutter after a storm. • Your Own Night Kitchen. Mickey’s In the Night Kitchen adventure is illustrated through comic-style panels that tell the story of his dreamlike journey. Create a page with multiple panels for each student to fill out with his or her own illustrations. Have children brainstorm their own fun dream and tell the story on the page.

• I’m Mickey the Pilot! To create his bread dough airplane, Mickey “kneaded and punched it and pounded and pulled.” Have kids create their own dough planes, using crafting clay or dough. • Frenzied Jig. In Outside Over There, Ida plays a “frenzied jig” that compels the goblins to dance and dance until they “quick churned into a dancing stream.” Play an example of a sailor’s jig and have children dance to the music. How does the music compel them? Perhaps Maurice Sendak borrowed the idea of goblins being unable to resist dancing from fairy-tale lore. Can children think of any other ideas in Maurice Sendak’s books and other stories that might be inspired by fairy tales, folktales, and myths?

Celebrate Sendak and 50 WILD YEARS! Like WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wildthings

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CLASSIC SENDAK STORYTIME KIT ALL IN THE FAMILY CONVERSATIONS Explore the depth of Maurice Sendak’s books with these discussion topics. • Research Maurice Sendak’s childhood and explore what—and who—inspired him to be so creative. Why might it have been important for him to connect with his family? • Sendak collaborated with his family members on these books. Have you ever worked on a project with family members? What are some good things about working with family, as opposed to working with colleagues or friends? • Discuss whether creativity is inherited or whether it can be taught. Share traits that you have in common with other members of your family.

ACTIVITIES Inspired by the creativity and imagination of Maurice Sendak, these activities provide ideas for creating mischief of one kind and another. • A Happy Headdress. In The Happy Rain, the residents of Troeken wear paper bags over their heads to try and make it rain. Yolande draws a picture of what she would like to look like when she grows up, while Raymond draws what he would not want to look like. Recycle paper grocery bags and have kids draw faces on the front—either what they want to look like or something completely silly! Cut holes in the sides of the bags to make sure it doesn’t get too stuffy and then gather everyone together to take a picture in their headdresses. • Imagining Opposites. In Circus Girl, Flora has a terrible dream about the people who come to see the circus, and she begins to wonder what they are really like. Ask children where they would take Flora to show her what life outside the circus looks like. Have children draw a scene of something they do every day, such as ride the school bus, eat lunch, or play outside at recess. Then have them add circus performers to the picture—acrobats on the playground, a lion in the cafeteria—to illustrate how different the worlds seemed to Flora.

• Family Roots. In Grandpa’s House is a beautiful collaboration between father and son. At Maurice Sendak’s suggestion, his father, Philip Sendak, committed to paper three children’s stories and a brief reminiscence of his own life. Explain to children the importance of this collaboration, and encourage then to discuss why Maurice Sendak might have found it important for his father’s thoughts and words to be permanently scribed. Instruct children to think of their own parents and grandparents and the wisdom they have learned from them. Have them create a book, similar to In Grandpa’s House, which combines the words of their relatives with their own pieces of art. • Brotherly Inspiration. Just as Maurice Sendak was inspired by his brother to create My Brother’s Book, encourage children to create a piece of artwork dedicated to, and inspired by, a sibling or other relative. Have the child describe the relative’s relationship and why he or she is important to the child. Children can then sign the artwork and place a small inscription on the back of the piece.


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CLASSIC SENDAK STORYTIME KIT OVER THE MOON CONVERSATIONS Explore the depth of Maurice Sendak’s books with these discussion topics. • The moon appears in these three books, watching over the characters below. It is a constant presence and a recurring image in many Maurice Sendak pieces. What do you think the moon represents? Why do you think Sendak illustrated the moon in so much of his art? • Maurice Sendak was inspired by the art of Winsor McCay. Research some of McCay’s work and compare it to the art of In the Night Kitchen. What similarities can you find? How did Sendak make the style his own? • The title of We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy is absent from the front cover. Why do you think Maurice moved it to the back of the jacket? Have you seen other books without the title on the front? Do you think it is a good idea? Why or why not?

ACTIVITIES Inspired by the creativity and imagination of Maurice Sendak, these activities provide ideas for creating mischief of one kind and another. • Tracking the Moon. If you’re going to travel over, around, or on the moon, you need to know where it is! Create a chart of the eight different phases of the moon. What causes these phases? What are the phases called? Have children construct their own charts so they can always see the moon and know where it is in the sky. • Hey, Diddle, Diddle! In We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy, Maurice Sendak seamlessly combines two Mother Goose nursery rhymes. Have children pick two nursery rhymes and combine them into one story; they can mix up the lines or keep them separate. Also have them create a picture that illustrates the combination. Explore other Maurice Sendak books that were inspired by Mother Goose. (Hint: He was dressed all in green!)

• I See the Moon! No matter where the children run and jump in The Moon Jumpers, the moon watches over them. Wherever you are in the world, you are always looking up at the same moon as everyone else, which can be very comforting. Give children two construction paper moons and have them decorate both. Instruct kids to keep one and give one away to someone special as a reminder that no matter how far away that person is, the moon watches over everyone.



CLASSIC SENDAK STORYTIME KIT LITTLE BEAR AND I CAN READ CONVERSATIONS Explore the depth of Maurice Sendak’s books with these discussion topics. • Little Bear has a big imagination, traveling to the moon and meeting mermaids. Why is imagination so important? What makes it fun to pretend you are someone else or to discover new places? • Why do you think Else Holmelund Minarik didn’t give names to the animals in the Little Bear stories, instead calling them Little Bear, Hen, Owl, etc.? Would you have named them? Why or why not? • In Little Bear’s Visit, Grandmother Bear tells Little Bear a story about when Mother Bear was just a cub. Have you ever heard stories about when your parents were children? Were they like you? Why do we like hearing stories about our relatives when they were smaller? • In No Fighting, No Biting!, why does Cousin Joan tell Rosa and Willy the story of the alligators? Do you think Rosa and Willy learn to sit still and not bicker? Why or why not?

ACTIVITIES Inspired by the creativity and imagination of Maurice Sendak, these activities provide ideas for creating mischief of one kind and another. • Fun Fishing. Fishing trips are fun, but not everyone lives near a lake, river, or ocean—so bring the fishing trip indoors! Fashion fishing poles out of sticks and string, attaching a magnet at the end of each piece of string. Create fish—and maybe even a little whale— out of construction paper, with a paper clip on the end. Have each child “fish” by trying to catch the paper clips with their magnetic fishing pole. Make the activity educational by writing vocabulary words or math problems on the fish. When kids catch the fish, they can read the word or solve the problem! • Pen Pals. When Emily must leave Little Bear to go back to school, she gives Little Bear a brand-new pen and he writes her a letter. Practice penmanship and letter writing by finding a pen pal and exchanging letters! Provide children with a small stack of plain paper so that they can create their own stationery. Decorate the borders but be sure to leave room for the message. Have each child write a letter to a friend or relative who lives far away, and then seal the letter and send it out!

• A Telephone Kiss. In A Kiss for Little Bear, Little Bear asks Hen to deliver a drawing for his grandmother. In return she sends a kiss, but it travels through the woods and “gets all mixed up!” Play a game of telephone and see if your message gets all mixed up too! One person comes up with a secret sentence and whispers it to the person sitting next to him or her, who then whispers it to the next person, and so on. When the last person receives the secret message, he or she must announce it to the group. Is it the same message that the first person came up with, or did it get “all mixed up”?



CLASSIC SENDAK STORYTIME KIT ANIMAL FRIENDS CONVERSATIONS Explore the depth of Maurice Sendak’s books with these discussion topics. • The heroine of Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life is Jennie, a Sealyham terrier. Maurice Sendak created this book about his own dog Jennie, whom he featured in all of his books until she passed away. Can you find Jennie in other Sendak books? By including her in so many works, what does it say about how important she was to Maurice Sendak? • In The Bat-Poet, how does the chipmunk know that the mockingbird won’t like the bat’s poem about him? Discuss why the mockingbird gets upset, even though the bat was only trying to be nice and create a poem for him. • Maurice Sendak’s illustrations in The Bat-Poet, Pleasant Fieldmouse, and Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life are all of a similar style. Discuss the similarities of the illustrations in these books and how the art matches the text. How do these illustrations differ from Bears? Would intricate black-and-white drawings work as well in Bears? Why or why not?

ACTIVITIES Inspired by the creativity and imagination of Maurice Sendak, these activities provide ideas for creating mischief of one kind and another. • Bears! Chairs! Millionaires! In Bears, Maurice Sendak skillfully illustrates Ruth Krauss’s delightful play on the word bears. Create your own comic scene, and see how many rhymes you can make. Select an animal that is easy to rhyme with, such as cat or frog. Choose a whale, and he might have a polka-dot tail or perhaps is delivering mail! As a group, think of as many rhymes as possible. Once you’ve exhausted the list, split up the rhymes and have everyone illustrate a different piece of your silly scene. • Terrific Teacher, Super Student. The characters in Pleasant Fieldmouse are all named according to their personality traits. Mrs. Worry-wind Hedgehog worries all the time, while Terrible Owl tries to snatch up Pleasant Fieldmouse. Create name tags for children and have them fill in an adjective they like about themselves, followed by their names. Gather everyone together to share their new names and where they came from!

• Pet Adventures. Jennie goes on quite the adventure, packing up a suitcase and leaving her master. Inspired by Maurice Sendak’s picture of Jennie and her suitcase, have children create an illustration of a pet going on an adventure. It could be a vacation, running away, or just a trip to Grandma’s house. Instruct children to tell a story about his or her pet, or a pet they would like to have, and an adventure they think the pet would like to go on.



CLASSIC SENDAK STORYTIME KIT BIRTHDAYS AND PRESENTS CONVERSATIONS Explore the depth of Maurice Sendak’s books with these discussion topics. • Maurice Sendak and Ruth Krauss collaborated to create Charlotte and The White Horse. What other collaborations of theirs have you read? How do Maurice Sendak’s illustrations complement Ruth Krauss’s text? • In Bumble-Ardy, there is a gap in the main narrative text when six pages of illustrations take over. In what other Sendak books does this art interlude occur? What is the effect of letting the art speak for itself? • In these four books, the gifts range from small daisies to very big parties, yet everyone loves the celebrations. Discuss why it is just as much fun to give gifts as it is to receive them.

ACTIVITIES Inspired by the creativity and imagination of Maurice Sendak, these activities provide ideas for creating mischief of one kind and another. • All Wrapped Up. Half the fun of receiving presents is opening them! Have kids design their own wrapping paper inspired by the art of Maurice Sendak. Recycle paper grocery bags and cut down the seam of one side. Open up the bag so that it lies flat and then have children create their own pattern to cover the entire piece of paper. Once decorated, kids should use the paper to wrap up a present for someone special! • Anytime Valentine. Valentine’s Day might only happen in February, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create a lovely note for someone special another time. Using the daisies from She Loves Me . . . She Loves Me Not . . ., have children create playful flower notes for friends and family. Instead of plucking petals, add them! Start with a stem and add petals, writing each word or sentence on a different petal.

• Petal Ponderings. For another She Loves Me . . . She Loves Me Not . . . petal activity, have each child choose his or her own question to decide by daisy. For example, a question about what to do at recess might turn into “To play kickball . . . NOT to play kickball . . .” Have childen continue plucking petals until they run out—the answer they land on is the answer to the question! • Celebration Countdown. Kids love their birthdays, but sometimes they seem so far away! Create a countdown paper chain for each child to know exactly how many days until his or her special day. Cut one-inch strips of construction paper and tape the ends together to form a link. Add a link for each day until the child’s birthday, and number each one. Starting at the highest number, he or she can remove one link per day until the special day!



CLASSIC SENDAK STORYTIME KIT ROSIE AND THE NUTSHELL KIDS CONVERSATIONS Explore the depth of Maurice Sendak’s books with these discussion topics. • The four books in Nutshell Library are Alligators All Around, Chicken Soup with Rice, One Was Johnny, and Pierre. Discuss which book is your favorite and why. • Pierre provides a moral at the end encouraging readers to “CARE!” What is a moral? What other stories have morals at the end? Why do you think Maurice Sendak included this moral in Nutshell Library? • Discuss the differences in art between Nutshell Library, The Sign on Rosie’s Door, and Maurice Sendak’s Really Rosie. The characters are all the same and the art is very similar, but there are a variety of distinct differences.

ACTIVITIES Inspired by the creativity and imagination of Maurice Sendak, these activities provide ideas for creating mischief of one kind and another. • Costume Chest. How can kids turn into Alinda, the lovely lady singer, or Magic Man without a change of clothes? Create a trunk of outfits by asking each child to contribute an old hat, shirt, tie, scarf, etc. to the collection. You can also find fun dress-up items at a thrift store or secondhand shop. After the chest has been assembled, kids can pull out a piece or two and become someone completely new! Go around and have each kid choose a costume piece and tell the group what his or her new identity is. It’s fun to be someone else, even if it’s just for an afternoon!

• Sing-a-long Sendak. Put on a production that Rosie would want to be a part of with Chicken Soup with Rice! Divide the group into twelve sections, with each section learning the words to one month. Once everyone has practiced, gather together and put on a really grand, really special, really Rosie production!

• Fancy Firecrackers. Rosie and the Nutshell Kids pretend to be firecrackers for the Fourth of July, and kids can pretend to be a firecracker any time of the year by making their own fancy fireworks. Give kids recycled toilet paper tubes to decorate using markers or tempera paint. They could even add glitter for a sparkly, fiery effect. Allow the tubes to dry and then fill each one with a piece of bubble wrap. When everyone has completed their firecrackers, set them off by popping the bubbles inside and jumping around. Follow Rosie and be the biggest, loudest, and best firecracker ever: Bang! Pop! aWHISHHHH!



CLASSIC SENDAK STORYTIME KIT PURE FUN CONVERSATIONS Explore the depth of Maurice Sendak’s books with these discussion topics. • The art in A Hole Is To Dig, Open House for Butterflies, and I’ll Be You and You Be Me consists of small, intricate drawings. Discuss why you think Maurice Sendak chose this style as opposed to large, colorful illustrations. • Throughout the art of Swine Lake, there are clever references to ballets, music, and theaters, but all with an animal-twist. For example, the Bolshoi Ballet is now the Boarshoi Ballet. How many of these references can you find? Why did Maurice Sendak include these jokes in the illustrations? • The title of I’ll Be You and You Be Me is an important message about being yourself and letting others be themselves. Maurice Sendak believed children know a lot more about life than adults give them credit for and that parents should love children for who they are. How does this idea come across in the words and pictures from Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak?

ACTIVITIES Inspired by the creativity and imagination of Maurice Sendak, these activities provide ideas for creating mischief of one kind and another. • My First Definitions. Before reading A Hole Is To Dig, create a book of definitions. Choose words from the book, such as eyebrows, buttons, toes, or mud. Ask each child how he or she would define the given word and write down the definitions. After compiling all the new definitions, compare them to the ones in A Hole Is To Dig. Read the book together—did you come up with any of the same things? • Mother, May I? What Do You Say, Dear? is a book of manners for all occasions. While most everyday situations might not resemble the ones in the story, manners are still very important! Reinforce good manners by playing “Mother, May I?” Choose the leader and have the rest of the group line up on the opposite side of the room. The leader gives commands to each player, who must respond with “Mother, may I?”, at which point the leader will answer yes or no. If a player forgets to ask permission, he or she is out. The winner of the game is the last person standing.

• Butterflies. “Open house for butterflies is a good thing to have.” Turn the room into a house of butterflies by crafting beautiful paper creatures. Have each child take a piece of construction paper and fold it in half. Then carefully cut out the shape of one wing and unfold the paper. The butterfly should now have two identical wings. Have kids decorate one wing with nontoxic, washable paint. Before the paint dries, fold the wing over and firmly press down. Open up the paper and see a beautiful butterfly! Hang the creations around the room for a house of butterflies.



CLASSIC SENDAK STORYTIME KIT THROUGH A WINDOW CONVERSATIONS Explore the depth of Maurice Sendak’s books with these discussion topics. • The art of Outside Over There was inspired by German painter Philipp Otto Runge. Research the work of Runge and compare it to the art of Maurice Sendak. Discuss the similarities and where you can see the influence of this Romantic painter. • How does Maurice Sendak use windows as gateways to imagination? • How are Kenny and Ida similar? They both are given a task but end up on very different adventures. What can you glimpse about their personalities?

ACTIVITIES Inspired by the creativity and imagination of Maurice Sendak, these activities provide ideas for creating mischief of one kind and another. • Artistic Inspiration. Just as Maurice Sendak was inspired by Philipp Otto Runge, find inspiration in other artists. Have each child choose a painting by a famous artist. Ask children why they chose the painting and what they like about it. Then have each child create his or her own masterpiece, mimicking the style of the artist he or she chose. • Window Art. Just like the windows in these books, kids’ windows can provide spectacular views and wonderful inspiration. Have children decorate their own windows with removable, colorful art clings. Provide kids with puffy poster or fabric paint, and ask them to draw simple shapes on a piece of waxed paper. Make sure there isn’t an empty, unpainted gap or the image will rip when they try to remove it from the paper. Wait 48 hours for the piece to dry and slowly peel it off the waxed paper. The images will stick to any clean window and can be removed and rearranged! Make sure not to leave the images in the same place for more than a week or residue could be left behind.

• Night and Day. Kenny wants to live in a garden with the moon on one side and the sun on the other. The world looks very different at night than it does during the day. Have children illustrate this contrast by illustrating the same scene both under the stars and in the sunshine. Divide a piece of paper in half and instruct each child to draw the same scene on both sides—one side night, one side day! How different do the two scenes appear? • Music for Goblins. Create horns to hum jigs and enchant goblins. For this activity you’ll need recycled paper towel tubes, waxed paper, rubber bands, and scissors. Ask children to cut out circles of waxed paper to cover the end of the tube, with an extra inch on all sides. Use a rubber band to secure the circle to the end of the tube. Instruct children to hum into the opposite end of their horns and create their own tunes!



CLASSIC SENDAK STORYTIME KIT FABLES & FOLKLORE CONVERSATIONS Explore the depth of Maurice Sendak’s books with these discussion topics. • Which story in Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories is your favorite? Why? • In The Animal Family, Maurice Sendak’s art is described as “decorations.” Why do you think these particular pieces are “decorations” while others are described as “pictures”? • The Bee-man is changed back into a baby by the Junior Sorcerer, yet he grows up into the same person. Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? Do you think your plans will change as you grow up, or will you always want to be the same thing?

ACTIVITIES Inspired by the creativity and imagination of Maurice Sendak, these activities provide ideas for creating mischief of one kind and another. • Family Portrait. In The Animal Family, the characters make up what appears to be a mixed-up family. But family isn’t necessarily just our blood relations; family is what we make of it! Have children create their own family portraits that they can display proudly. Instruct children to draw a picture of who they consider to be part of their family, encouraging them to include figures they might not immediately think about, such as their pet dog! • Growing Up. The Bee-man wants to learn what he was before he became the Bee-man, and he discovers that he was once a baby. Have children track how much they’ve already grown up and changed by instructing them to create a personal time line. Ask each child to bring in a picture of when they were born, a present-day picture, and one in between. Using construction paper and glue, have children arrange the pictures in chronological order with their age below each photo.

• Timeless Tales. Isaac Bashevis Singer notes in the foreword to Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories that “in stories time does not vanish.” He hopes to pass down stories of long ago to the present and future generations. Ask children about a story an adult has told them that they always want to remember. Is it a fable? Is it a story about their family? Have each child write down the story in his or her own words. When they’ve finished, have children make an accompanying drawing, mimicking the intricate black-and-white illustrations of Sendak.



CLASSIC SENDAK STORYTIME KIT HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAX!

CONVERSATIONS Explore the depth of Maurice Sendak’s books with these discussion topics. • In the fifty years since it was published on November 23, 1963, Where the Wild Things Are has both delighted and terrified readers. Children and adults have adored Max and the wild things, but some critics have claimed that the book is too dark and ominous for kids. Do you think Where the Wild Things Are might be scary to some people? Why or why not? • Maurice Sendak said that, after he created the wild things, he realized that they were modeled after his relatives and how scary they looked to him when he was a small child. Discuss what it is about grown-ups that might be frightening to kids and how Maurice Sendak incorporated these scary qualities in his wild things. • The illustrations in Where the Wild Things Are are renowned examples of Maurice Sendak’s talent. What about this particular artwork is distinctive? Discuss the colors and the pronounced use of texture. How do these aspects of the art fit the wild nature of the book?

ACTIVITIES Inspired by the creativity and imagination of Maurice Sendak, these activities provide ideas for creating mischief of one kind and another. • Where the Wild Are. Before Where the Wild Things Are became the classic book we love, it was originally called Where the Wild Horses Are. But when Maurice Sendak realized that he couldn’t draw horses, he decided to draw wild THINGS—and our beloved book was created. Encourage children to create their own interpretation of the title, replacing the wild “things” with a different wild creature. Have them sketch their new characters and create a book jacket of their own. • Kings and Queens of All Wild Things. Max is the king of all wild things, and every king (or queen!) needs a crown. Have each little king and queen take a piece of construction paper and, holding it lengthwise, wrap it around his or her head so that the ends overlap slightly. You might have to tape multiple pages together so that it is long enough. Once each child has measured out how long the paper needs to be, have him or her cut out zigzag points along the top edge of the strip; the bottom edge should remain

straight. When each child has cut out points along the entire top edge, have each of them rewrap the crown around his or her head and tape the seam where the edges meet. Now each child has a crown fit for the king or queen of all wild things! • Throw a Wild Rumpus! Everyone loves to let loose. Just as Max’s “walls became the world all around,” create a vine-covered world to host a wild rumpus! Have kids put on their crowns and roll their terrible eyes and gnash their terrible teeth. Don’t forget to include a big moon so everyone can roar terrible roars!



CLASSIC SENDAK STORYTIME KIT BOYS WILL BE BOYS CONVERSATIONS Explore the depth of Maurice Sendak’s books with these discussion topics. • The pictures in A Very Special House accompany the little boy’s dream about his perfect house. How does Sendak achieve a dream-like quality in this book? • From the expressions on the turtle’s face in How Little Lori Visited Times Square to the way Jack and John eat their pretzels in Let’s Be Enemies, there is humor in all five of these titles. How do Maurice Sendak’s pictures add to the humor? Discuss how the pictures are sometimes the funniest part. • Maurice Sendak varies his use of color across these five books. How does the color scheme change for each story? How does it affect the book? Which is your favorite?

ACTIVITIES Inspired by the creativity and imagination of Maurice Sendak, these activities provide ideas for creating mischief of one kind and another. • Bon Voyage! Little Lori decides to visit Times Square, but his journey takes him all over New York. Sometimes a journey is more of an adventure than the destination! Have children describe a recent trip they’ve taken and illustrate the different things they’ve seen. Whether it is a trip around the neighborhood or a cross-country vacation, have kids draw themselves in different legs of the trip. Encourage them to include landmarks they noticed as well as any people they met along the way. • A Very Special House. The little boy in A Very Special House describes a house that is just for him. Instruct children to illustrate their own dream house. Where would it be located? Who would live there? Have kids sketch out what the house would look like, but remind them that they can include whatever they want—even a lion eating stuffing from the chairs, chairs, chairs! • Go Green! Hector Protector went to see the queen, dressed in green. Create a special day where everyone dresses in green to see the queen! Have children wear as much green as they can and provide each of them with a feather to wear on his or her head. To battle

snakes and lions along the way, the children can create pretend swords. Cut out sword silhouettes from construction paper for each child. Have kids tape an unsharpened pencil to the back to provide support. Once they have created the shape, have children wrap the “blade” in aluminum foil. Now each green protector looks especially brave and ready to meet the queen! • A Sneaky Disguise for Far Away. Martin dons a mustache and a cowboy hat so that when he goes very far away, no one will recognize him. Have kids create their own disguises using sunglasses, construction paper, glue, and pipe cleaners. Instruct children to make a silly nose out of construction paper to glue to the bridge of their sunglasses. To create a mustache, bend a pipe cleaner in half to locate the middle. Twist the ends up and attach the pipecleaner to the bottom of the paper nose. Each child can add other accessories made from construction paper, such as fuzzy eyebrows or a big toothy grin. Now everyone can go unrecognized, whether they’re headed very far away or just down the hall!

