Grades 1-3; Ages 6-9

Nibbles

Party Time! Take large pieces of construction paper, posterboard or plain chart paper and make fairy wings. Use paints or crayons, glitter, feathers, whatever catches their fancy. Display the wings in the classroom or attach string (through holes punched in the center) and let the students wear the wings. Describe the ideal fairy. What would he/she look like? What powers would he/she have? Describe the fairy and then draw him/her. Make a fairy tale like the one read in the book. Have students contribute ideas and write it as a class. “Once upon a time…” is always a good beginning. Discuss the characters first and be sure the story includes fairies and animals.

Bad Buster Discuss! Buster works and plays with the dogs at the kennel. He treats the dogs well and they do what he says. What do the students think about this? How does Buster get the dogs to do what he says? In what other situations would Buster be successful? In what other situations would Buster’s way of working with the dogs be helpful? Draw a picture of Buster and one of the dogs. Buster captures the burglars and saves the day. Write another story (individually or as a class) where Buster does something good. Have a party where all the students act like one of the dogs from the book. What would they do? Which dog would they choose to be? Why? What would they do?

General

• Draw a cartoon representing the story. Use one box per chapter, and draw the main idea from each chapter. What is the main thing that happens? Alternatively, you could have students draw their favorite event of each chapter.
• Kids love to play act. Have the students choose parts (or draw names from a hat) and have them act out the story. Use actual lines from the book or have them improvise.
• Sometimes siblings can be hard to deal with. Becky in The Magic Wand makes her brother disappear, and in The Littlest Pirate Nicholas shows his big siblings he can save them. What would you like to do to your sibling(s)? What is your fantasy? Write about it and illustrate.
• Buster in Bad Buster and Jack in Quack! Quack! help save some animals. What do you think of that? Would you like to save an animal? What is a way you could help animals? Plan an event or make a poster to save an animal, either a pet or a species (examples: save the whales, help feed local dogs).
• Many of these books have animal themes. What if you could be an animal, what animal would you be? How would that animal act? Do you think you could do the spelling lesson as that animal (in a controlled manner!)?
• The Littlest Pirate, Quack! Quack!, and My Amazing Poo Plant are books about adventure. What kind of adventure would you like to take? To sail on the high seas? Flying through the air in the circus? Create a cartoon (6-8 frames) where you have an adventure. Use pictures and words.
• In Quack! Quack!, The Littlest Pirate, and Bad Buster the characters stand up to bullies. Have you ever had someone bully you? What happened? Write down some of your memories of the experience. Then with a partner, playact the scene with the bully either the way you remember it or with an ending you would have liked.
• In The Magic Wand, Becky has a pretend magic wand—or is it real? What if you had a real magic wand? What would you do with it? Write a short story describing what you would do with a magic wand. Be sure to include a picture!
• Emma grows the perfect pet in My Amazing Poo Plant. What would your perfect pet be? Is it your dog? Could it be a cross between a fish and a gerbil? Draw a picture of your perfect pet and write a description of this pet and why it is perfect.