The Hole Story (Kelly Canby)

 

This story has some subtleties to it that are great. The not so subtle bit is to talk about the word play of hole vs whole. The subtle part is the rabbit that appears on all the pages following the boy around. Once the boy finally decides to discard the hole because it is of no use to him, the rabbit can use it to live in. It could also be great as a story for inferencing. What could some of the people in the story do with that hole? Why do they not want it? What would happen if they did take it?

Goodreads says:

One day Charlie finds a hole. A hole of his very own! He picks it up and pops it in his pocket. But it doesn’t take Charlie long to realize that a hole in your pocket is not a good thing to have.

The Stranger (Chris Van Allsburg)

We are in love with Chris Van Allsburg books in my class. This one is a great mystery. Who is this stranger? When I first read it, I had no idea that he was Jack Frost. There are a number of clues all through it though.  I found a great guide from Houghton Mifflin to help with a lesson on inferencing as well. We will do the work in our Reading Notebooks.We read it again and students wrote down the clues they noticed. At lunch time I showed them a video of Jack Frost. We'll see if anyone makes the connection. So far they say he is a "winter fairy". Close!


Goodreads says:

The enigmatic origins of the stranger that Farmer Bailey hits with his truck and brings home to recuperate seem to have a mysterious relation to the weather. Could he be Jack Frost?