Pistes d'exploration

Review any new or interesting vocabulary words (quahog, sousaphones, veenas, whelks, etc.). Sort the words into two categories: musical instruments and sea animals. Can you subdivide these categories even further?

In pairs, choose an instrument or sea creature and create your own rhyming verse. Share it with the class.

Listen to recordings of the different instruments. If you are a musician, bring in your instrument and play it for the class or record yourself playing. How do you feel when you play? If you do not play an instrument, which would you like to try?

On the game page, match the fish and instrument words with the illustrations. Find where the letter is hidden in the picture. Look for the starfish maestro. 

With each student choosing a different letter, sort words according to sea animals, animal actions, instruments, musical words and musical actions. Decide on an appropriate classroom organizer for this task. 

Create a page in the same style using the first letter of your name. Include your favourite animals, activities, foods, sports, etc. Present it to your classmates in an inside-outside circle. 

The Mermaid and the Shoe

Mots-clés

Picture book , alliteration , alphabet , music , oceans , poetic language , seek-and-find book , stories in rhyme

Commentaire descriptif

In this descriptive alphabet book, readers are introduced to the letters of the alphabet through the theme of underwater life and music. Each page is dedicated to a letter and includes a four-line rhyming verse that describes the part of the symphony being played by the undersea creatures (“The porpoises sway as prawns prance and playand piccolos are played by the plankton.”) The alliterative verse features rich and unusual vocabulary; readers may want to discuss the different word meanings. The illustrations reflect the greens, blues and turquoises of the ocean. They bring to life the many instruments and creatures, with joyful and animated expressions showing the fun to be had when making music. A starfish maestro is hidden on each page, as well as a letter of the alphabet. Readers who look closely will discover how the words have been transformed into drawings. Answers can be found at the end of the book along with additional hidden images to search for. Readers might well be inspired to pick a theme and create their own alphabet story.