Willodeen (Katherine Applegate)

 

I was mystified by the cover and title...so to explain that, Willodeen is the name of the main character who is sensitive about nature. The little bear with wings is a hummingbear and they're starting to disappear. They sound really lovely and I wish they were real! The big green eyes and animal with the horns is a less than snuggly animal called a screecher. Willodeen has an appreciation for screechers that most people don't. It's kind of like a warthog but also has a really bad smell. 

I think kids in my class would really love this book since they're often more sensitive to the environment than adults are. There are lots of lovely words of the wiser in this book that come from young people. (January 2022)

Read with my class in February/March 2022. As usual, I got much more out of it when I read it aloud and discussed it with my class!

- Read aloud May 2024. This isn't my favorite book to read aloud. My mouth doesn't bend around the phrasing that well, for some reason! 

Pairings for classroom "book clubs":
The Wild Robot (nature)

Characters
Pa, Ma and Toby - p. 14 fire kills them ("The Great September Fire")
Willodeen - likes animals, people confuse her (p. 17)
Mae and Birdie - take Willodeen in (p. 14)
Duzuu - pet hummingbear
Connor - makes sense of nature with art

Themes:

Connection: humans/nature and  humans with each other

Humans/nature

p. 236 One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. (Shakespeare) - Mae

p. 237 We are all connected. People and plants and fish and birds and yes, even screechers.

Human to human connection quotes

p. 50 I was good, it seemed, at burying things

p. 135 There's magic in all of us," Birdie said. "Just a bit. You're born with it, like fingers and toes and fuzzy baby hair. Some of make use of it. And some do not."

p. 180 Our conversations were often like that, just a handful of words. I liked it. The silences were comfortable as an old sweater.

Speak up!

p. 232 With enough whispers, you can make a roar.

Elaborative detail: 
p. 5 screechers
p. 23-23 hummingbirds
p. 52-54 Mae and Birdie

Signpost Notes:

Ah ha Moment
 

p. 72 Birdie and Willodeen recognize that Willodeen's anger or angst inside of her is something she shouldn't ignore and should use to accomplish her great work she needs to do (but what is it?!)
Birdie squeezed my hand. "Don't stop being angry, Willodeen. It's part of who you are. You see the world differently. You care. That's a gift."

Words of the Wiser

p. 88 Connor: "My father says being different makes life more difficult."

This ends up being true because Willodeen has to go through some difficult and soul searching times trying to fight for the screechers.

p. 135 "There's magic in all of us," Birdie said. "Just a bit. You're born with it, like fingers and toes and fuzzy baby hair. Some of us make use of it and some do not."

Willodeen had wished for magic on her birthday when she blew out the candle. (p. 73)

The magic that had happened was that the screecher Connor made came to life. They knew it was his screecher because of the bow around his neck and the notch in his ear (Willodeen had cried after the town council meeting and her tear fell on the screecher puzzler that Connor had made for her)

Memory Moment:

p. 56 Willodeen's last birthday party

Tough Qs:

p. 7 Why do we love what we love

p. 55 Did animals remember things the same way we did? or did they just exist from moment to moment

p. 70 What did I want? I tried not to long for things. Even if you got what you wanted, it could be snatched away in a moment.

Goodreads says:

The earth is old and we are not, and that is all you must remember . . .

Eleven-year-old Willodeen adores creatures of all kinds, but her favorites are the most unlovable beasts in the land: strange beasts known as “screechers.” The villagers of Perchance call them pests, even monsters, but Willodeen believes the animals serve a vital role in the complicated web of nature.

Lately, though, nature has seemed angry indeed. Perchance has been cursed with fires and mudslides, droughts and fevers, and even the annual migration of hummingbears, a source of local pride and income, has dwindled. For as long as anyone can remember, the tiny animals have overwintered in shimmering bubble nests perched atop blue willow trees, drawing tourists from far and wide. This year, however, not a single hummingbear has returned to Perchance, and no one knows why.

When a handmade birthday gift brings unexpected magic to Willodeen and her new friend, Connor, she’s determined to speak up for the animals she loves, and perhaps even uncover the answer to the mystery of the missing hummingbears.