Charlotte's Web and James and the Giant Peach

 Dagan's class read Charlotte's Web at school. He is becoming more and more interested in books that have chapters. We borrowed it from the library so Sage could listen to the story as well. They loved the characters especially Wilbur (the pig), Charlotte (the spider) and Templeton (the rat). They learned a lot of new words from reading this book. We also discussed the various animals on the farm and talked about pigs being turned into ham and bacon, how the chickens lay eggs, and why the baby spiders didn't all stay in the barn. Dagan was sad about Charlotte's death at the end of the book and that lead to discussions about life expectancy for various types of creatures and the cycle of birth, life and death.

James and the Giant Peach was one of my favorite books growing up. Dagan and Sage loved it because it was funny and magical. They are often quoting Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge, "Just look at my dainty toes." "But don't forget," Aunt Spiker said "How much your tummy shows. " We discussed different parts of the peach- skin, flesh, pit. We talked about the different insects and how they were useful in a variety of ways. The boys learned that the centipede is a pest and doesn't really have a hundred legs and that earthworms are blind and have no legs. We watched the movie and compared and contrasted the book and the movie. The movie had ghost pirates and Aunt Spiker and Sponge lived and caught up to James in the end whereas in the book, they died from being rolled over by the peach and there was a part in the book involving cloud men attacking them.

These books have inspired the boys to write and spell words, draw pictures, create chapters with titles, and create fantastical adventures to share with others.