written by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by K.G. Campbell
Lexile Measure: 520L
Early Chapter Book. Middle School. Diverse Protagonist.
Flora is a "natural-born cynic". Ulysses is no ordinary squirrel after a mishap with a vacuum. This story takes you on an adventure with this duo as they face villains, navigate friendships, and find their place in the world.
"Holy bagumba!" This was a great read! I would give this book a 28/32 (see Children's Book Evaluation Rubric). This book is packed with brilliant language such as malfeasance, nefarious, sepulchral, and humorous phrases such as "Holy unanticipated occurrences". I would recommend this book for 4th grade through 8th grade.
One thing that I really liked about this book is that it addresses the topic of divorce and the different feelings that children may have about their parents or the situation. This book also has a strong female lead character who is smart, kind, and adventurous. She loves comic books, and has some quirks, which makes her a different, fun character who I really enjoyed and who I think some children and can definitely relate to. Oh, and the book has great illustrations in a comic book manner throughout, which I also enjoyed.
Here are some literary elements that can be addressed in this book...
Text to fit the words: In the book, Flora sees words floating above people's heads at times, as if they were in a comic book. When this happens, the font in the book matches how it would look if the words were actually floating above someones head in a comic book. There is also a specific font for the title of the comic book that Flora reads, The Illuminated Adventures of Incandesto!, and for the bonus comic that appears on the back of the comic called TERRIBLE THINGS CAN HAPPEN TO YOU!
For a mini-lesson on texts to fit the words, or the words to fit the meaning, have students find other examples of books with text to fit the words such as BIG words, small words.
Or words
that show
movement.
There are tons of fun ways to look at how text can be used to make a story more interesting, and after students find an example that they like and can see themselves using, have them try it out in their own writing!
Word choice in writing: I mentioned earlier that this book contains wonderful vocabulary using words such as such as malfeasance, nefarious, and sepulchral. This could lead to a lesson about taking risks with words in writing, why authors make those decisions, and how students can see themselves doing this in their own writing. This is also a great opportunity to look at a thesaurus with students.
Using italics to show thoughts: Throughout the book, the author puts Ulysses the squirrel's thoughts in italics. Though the squirrel cannot talk in this book, his thoughts sometimes occur in italics to give the reader a glimpse into what he is thinking and what he is going to do next. A question you might ask students is why did the author choose to do this instead of just giving him the ability to talk, and how can you incorporate this into your own writing?
One thing that I really liked about this book is that it addresses the topic of divorce and the different feelings that children may have about their parents or the situation. This book also has a strong female lead character who is smart, kind, and adventurous. She loves comic books, and has some quirks, which makes her a different, fun character who I really enjoyed and who I think some children and can definitely relate to. Oh, and the book has great illustrations in a comic book manner throughout, which I also enjoyed.
Here are some literary elements that can be addressed in this book...
Text to fit the words: In the book, Flora sees words floating above people's heads at times, as if they were in a comic book. When this happens, the font in the book matches how it would look if the words were actually floating above someones head in a comic book. There is also a specific font for the title of the comic book that Flora reads, The Illuminated Adventures of Incandesto!, and for the bonus comic that appears on the back of the comic called TERRIBLE THINGS CAN HAPPEN TO YOU!
For a mini-lesson on texts to fit the words, or the words to fit the meaning, have students find other examples of books with text to fit the words such as BIG words, small words.
Or words
that show
movement.
There are tons of fun ways to look at how text can be used to make a story more interesting, and after students find an example that they like and can see themselves using, have them try it out in their own writing!
Word choice in writing: I mentioned earlier that this book contains wonderful vocabulary using words such as such as malfeasance, nefarious, and sepulchral. This could lead to a lesson about taking risks with words in writing, why authors make those decisions, and how students can see themselves doing this in their own writing. This is also a great opportunity to look at a thesaurus with students.
Using italics to show thoughts: Throughout the book, the author puts Ulysses the squirrel's thoughts in italics. Though the squirrel cannot talk in this book, his thoughts sometimes occur in italics to give the reader a glimpse into what he is thinking and what he is going to do next. A question you might ask students is why did the author choose to do this instead of just giving him the ability to talk, and how can you incorporate this into your own writing?
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