Book Title

Bibliographic Information (APA): Author last name, First initial. (Year published). Title in italics. Illus. Illustrator First Name Last Name. City published, State published: Publisher.

Brief Annotation:
Genre:
Grade Level:
Readers who will like this:
Response/Rating (1-4):
One question you would ask before a read aloud:

Reading Strategies Connection:

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

Willems, Mo. (2004). Knuffle Bunny. Illus. Mo Willems. New York, New York: Hyperion Books for Children

Brief Annotation: Young Trixie and her dad take her stuffed rabbit, Knuffle Bunny, on a trip to the laundromat. Trixie enjoyed the trip to the laundromat, helping with the clothes, and putting in the money, but on the trip home she realizes that something is missing. She tries to tell her dad she needs to go back to the laundromat, but she can't speak yet. She tries everything (but words) to show her dad what was wrong, but he just didn't get it, until Trixie's mother asks, "Where's Knuffle Bunny?" The story ends happily ever after, with Knuffle Bunny returning to Trixie and Trixie saying Knuffle Bunny's name for the first time.
Genre: Fiction Picture Books
Grade Level: Pre-K to First grade
Readers who will like this: Kids who like stories about children, kids who love stuffed animals, kids who feel misunderstood by adults (and what kid doesn't?)
Response/Rating (1-4): 4--This is a clever, interesting book that combines photos and illustrations in a compelling manner, and tackles important questions about what you do when you lose something you love, and how to make yourself understood.
One question you would ask before a read aloud: Have you ever tried to tell someone something but they just couldn't understand what you were saying?

Reading Strategies Connection: While this book is geared to younger readers, and is quite short, I think that the Feelings Chart activity from Yopp and Yopp (p. 87-89) would be a good activity for this book. The teacher would outline the three main (human) characters in the story, Trixie, her dad, and her mom, and then ask the kids about the important events in the story. The events might include the trip to the laundromat, Trixie trying to tell her dad about Knuffle Bunny on the trip home, her mom's realization that they didn't have Knuffle Bunny and the race back to the laundromat, and Trixie finding Knuffle Bunny and saying his name for the first time. Having the younger children put themselves in the positions of all these characters at these parts of the story will help them to understand how character's emotions change, and will help them to understand how events change character's (and their own) feelings throughout a narrative.

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