Pistes d'exploration

Make predictions as you read along. Is Scarface Claw actually afraid of the things suggested? 

Think-Pair-Share: What are you afraid of? Make a class list to appreciate the similarities and differences.

Identify the rhyming words in the text.

Practise reading or retelling the book using different voices for brave or frightening situations.

Sort words from the book into two categories: brave and frightening.

Make a new version of the story, answering the questions from your own point of view. Include an interesting introduction and conclusion.

A Dark, Dark Tale, Skeleton Hiccups

Mots-clés

Picture book , cats , fear , questions , self-confidence , stories in rhyme , surprise endings

Commentaire descriptif

Scarface Claw, the toughest tomcat around, scoffs at thunderstorms, fire engine sirens and spiders, and is afraid of nothing: “Scaredy cats trembleand people all shoutwhenever this tomcatis out and about.” Nothing that is, except his own reflection. Part of the Hairy Maclary and Friends series about cats, this rhyming, rollicking, rhythmic read-aloud has multiple levels of enjoyment for young children. Motion and mood abound in the mischievous full page colour drawings in black ink and gauche paint. The accompanying short texts, of only one or two sentences per page, are nonetheless rich in vocabulary (“Is he frightened of dogs when they lollop and leap?”) and entertaining at the same time (“He washes his whiskers and goes back to sleep”). Teachers and parents can use this humorous story as a springboard for the imagination, and to jumpstart oral, writing or drawing activities that focus on poetry, bullying or fear.