I love the books Too Many Carrots and A Loud Winter’s Nap, both written and illustrated by Katy Hudson. Her latest book might be my favorite… maybe because I am obsessed with squirrels!
The Golden Acorn by Katy Hudson
This is a terrific book for any time of year, but I think would be especially fun to read aloud in the fall! This book lends itself really well to analyzing character and how a character changes throughout the course of the story.
The illustrations in this book are AMAZING! During your read aloud you will want to stop and look at all of the illustrations because they will contribute to the ideas your students will form about the characters.
Be sure to look closely at the illustrations on the pages with the publishing information- the books on the bookshelves and the items on the shelves and walls tell a great deal about Squirrel. Your students can start to analyze Squirrel before even meeting her!
I have included a reading response sheet for your students to think about how Squirrel changes as the story goes along.
The Golden Acorn Reading Response-
Grab it for FREE here!
In the story Squirrel also learns a lesson about what is important in life. Be sure to focus on the lesson she learns- which can start laying the groundwork for when students begin learning about the theme in a story.
If you are working on character and setting in your reading workshop- you might want to take a look at this mini-unit I have in my Teachers Pay Teachers store! It uses the mentor texts Make Way for Ducklings and John Philip Duck to explore character, setting, and text to text connections.
I also have a post about Katy Hudson’s book A Loud Winter’s Nap here…
Have a great week!
