Henkes, K. (1993) Owen. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.
Brief Annotation: This is the story of a little boy (mouse) who loves his baby blanket so much that he just can’t part with it. He takes it everywhere and uses it for everything. No matter what his parents try they cannot make him part with his blanket, Fuzzy. Finally, his mother realizes that he doesn’t need to get rid fo Fuzzy, he just needs to make it smaller, so Fuzzy becomes a whole bunch of handkerchiefs.
Genre: Animal Fantasy
Grade Level: Pre-k- 2
Readers who will like this: Kids who like Kevin Henkes’s books. Students who like animal books. Students who had/have a childhood toy they couldn’t let go of.
Response/Rating (1-4): 4 I loved this book. I had a blanket just like Fuzzy when I was little and just like Owen I could not be without it. This book reminded me of all the wonderful things you can do with a beloved blankie.
One question you would ask before a read aloud: Did you ever have a special stuffed animal or blanket or something that you slept with when you were a baby? Where is it now?
Reading strategies connection: This book would make a great script for a Reader’s Theatre production (Tompkins, 97). The book has lots of great dialogue and characters who students can really relate to. The different personalities of the characters and their different roles (parent, child, nosey neighbor) lend themselves well to using silly and expressive voices. Students would convert the text to a script and then rehearse the lines for one of the characters in order to then present the reader’s thereafter to the whole class or even at a parent involvement night. This would help students practice fluency without feeling like they are simply rereading the same passage over and over.