Saturday, September 29, 2012

Frederick


Frederick
Author: Leo Lionni
Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: Pre-K - Grade 2
Year Published: 1967

Summary
This story is about a mouse and his family who are preparing for winter. Frederick, who is the main character of the story, does not help with the gathering of food. Nontraditionally (in the eyes of the field mice) he says that he is gathering sun rays, colors, and words for them to have when the winter gets cold and lonely. When winter comes, and the family of mice does run out of food, it is Frederick’s supplies that help them get through the cold and quietness.


About the Author
Leo Lionni was born on May 5, 1910, in a small town outside of Amsterdam. He loved nature as a child, and his parents permitted him to explore those things. His father was a public accountant and his mother was a promising opera singer. Leo's uncle, Piet, is the one who first introduced him to art, and who gave him his first drawing lesson. In 1922, Leo's parents left him in Brussels and went to America, and Leo lived with his (step)grandparents. Two years later, he moved to Philadelphia to join his family. One year later, they moved again to Genoa, Italy! He married Nora Maffi in 1931, and had a son, Mannie, in 1933. They had a second son, Paolo, in 1938. They soon moved to America, when it began to get dangerous for Jewish people to stay in Europe. In New York, Leo was hired by a prominent advertising agency. He rose quickly in the field, and later in life, he discovered children's books. He created 40 children's books, some of which won awards. He was very creative and most of his books taught little life lessons. He eventually retired, and moved to Italy with Nora.
Source: http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/lionni/aboutlionni.php

How to Use it
This book talks about how field mice prepare for winter, and how one mouse gathered some different things that were out of the norm. It shows how different people can contribute things that might not seem valuable at the time, but that really are crucial to life.

Pre-Reading: Discuss with the class what mice do to prepare for the winter. Ask them what types of foods and materials the mice make, and discuss what they think mice do to keep warm. Discuss how they themselves would prepare for a winter in which they had to stay in their houses for 3 months!


Post-Reading: Depending on the age of the students, have them write a book or draw illustrations depicting what they would do if they had to hole up for the winter. Would they gather colors and words like Frederick, or be more practical and gather food that would sustain them throughout the winter?
In addition, this book could be used for Character Education. Different people use different things in life, and all are valuable in different ways.




What do I Think?
This book has a beautiful message. The artwork in and of itself is gorgeous, and I love the concept behind the whole story. Sun rays, colors, and words are three of my favorite things in life, and I love how this book shows it to kids in a simple, effective way. 

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