Look at the cover with that woebegone, discontented toddler. If ever there was a book to show to kids with the simple question, "What do you think this story is about?" this is it. It begins, "Finn likes peaches. Usually." Look at the sweet little toddler on the first page, sitting there in his green chair, holding two ripe peaches, a beatific smile on his face and big yellow boots on his feet. What an angel. Now turn the page. How quickly things unravel. "But today, Finn doesn't like peaches. Today, Finn doesn't like anything." His smiling, red-haired mom is on her knees, offering him a nice plate of peaches. His dad is dangling a fish on a fishing pole and holding a football out to him. Finn won't even look at them. There's a black scribble of lines above Finn's head, a bit like the frustration scribble above Pigeon's head in Mo Willems's Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. Finn's got his blue security blanket wrapped around himself, and he looks like he's going to blow.
THEMES: BEHAVIOR. HUMOR.
Look at the cover with that woebegone, discontented toddler. If ever there was a book to show to kids with the simple question, "What do you think this story is about?" this is it. It begins, "Finn likes peaches. Usually." Look at the sweet little toddler on the first page, sitting there in his green chair, holding two ripe peaches, a beatific smile on his face and big yellow boots on his feet. What an angel. Now turn the page. How quickly things unravel. "But today, Finn doesn't like peaches. Today, Finn doesn't like anything." His smiling, red-haired mom is on her knees, offering him a nice plate of peaches. His dad is dangling a fish on a fishing pole and holding a football out to him. Finn won't even look at them. There's a black scribble of lines above Finn's head, a bit like the frustration scribble above Pigeon's head in Mo Willems's Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. Finn's got his blue security blanket wrapped around himself, and he looks like he's going to blow.
The black cloud above his head grows until, "Uh, oh! Thunder in the nursery!" Look out, Mom and Dad, it's a full-throated, bang-on-the-floor, cry-a-river-of-tears, roaring, earthshaking tantrum that brings on an avalanche, an earthquake, a hurricane, and a blizzard before it blows itself out. The riveting, explosive, full bleed art, rendered in oils, charcoal, and grease pencil, is so palpable, it's almost audible. And then, just like that, the fit is done. "It lasts until it doesn't." Look at Finn sitting there, spent, his little pink tongue sticking out of his mouth. Grab the opportunity for a four-second actable moment. Say to your young'uns, "Look at Finn. Now, you become Finn. Show me how he looks on this page." The amazing thing is, when you mime that picture of Finn, all of a sudden, you can understand just how he feels. When children act out a character's emotions and dialogue, they are not just hearing or reading a story, they are living the story, understanding the characters motivations on a personal level. We want them to experience stories from the inside out. Meltdown--your kids have surely been there before. When you finish reading the story, ask them: What do you think started Finn's fit? What about you? Have you ever had a fit? What set it off? How did you end it?
TEACHING TIP: Think this book is just for little kids? Think again. If you're teaching that Wild Weather unit in science--third grade teachers, I'm talking to you--why not introduce it with this fast and funny read that introduces so many kinds.
THEMES: BEHAVIOR. HUMOR.
