Pistes d'exploration

Talk about what makes people scared. Make a class list of fears.

Review your regular daily schedule and then create one for a perfect school day.

Complete a T-chart specifying the advantages and disadvantages of going to school.

Follow the model of the author's biography at the back of the book to write a blurb about yourself. Add it to the back of one of your own ‘published’ books.

Talk about what frightens Scaredy Squirrel. Compare this to what does or doesn’t frighten you.

Reuse the language from the book and build your own class schedule.

Fill in a T-chart specifying the advantages and disadvantages of going to school.

Follow the model of the author’s biography at the back of the book to write a blurb about yourself. Add it to the back of one of your own ‘published’ books.

Leon the Chameleon, Boris Starts School, Little Chicken Duck, Madame Martine

Mots-clés

Humour , Picture book , courage , everyday life , fear , routine , survival , unknown

Commentaire descriptif

Scaredy Squirrel is a perpetual worrier. He is especially afraid of what could happen to him if he were to leave his familiar nut tree, afraid of the scary things he might run across: tarantulas, germs, green Martians and more. When one day something unpredictable befalls him, Scaredy Squirrel has a life-changing experience. The unknown, he realizes, is not as bad as he imagined it would be. Using humour and rich vocabulary, this kid-friendly book enhances its traditional style narrative with a variety of text forms including lists, tables, comparison charts (such as “Advantages of not leaving the nut tree”) and illustrations using bold lines and a graphic style which chart the hero's journey from fearful homebody to one who finally recognizes his true inner strength. A clever foldout page invites readers to make the ‘big’ discovery precisely at the same moment as Scaredy Squirrel. This book will be appreciated by multiple audiences, including adults, and can serve as a discussion-starter about how being apprehensive about change should not get in the way of living a full life.