Adventures at Walnut Grove: A Lesson about Teasing

Treat others as you would like to be treated!

Lehman, Dana.
Adventures at Walnut Grove: A Lesson about Teasing.
June 2007.
Lehman Publishing.
Review copy provided courtesy of publisher.

Young children learn the important lesson of "treat others as you would like to be treated" with the help of author Dana Lehman and her characters, Sammy, Bucky, Rocky and Pokey. A simple game of baseball become heartbreaking for Sammy as he is called names by one of the other players. However, Sammy holds his voice and does not retaliate, rather choosing to remember the lesson he was previously taught. However, later on, when Bucky, the name caller, is on the receiving end of the teasing, he suddenly has an awakening of how Sammy must have felt to be called raccoon eyes and learns that ever so important lesson for himself, opting to apologize for the pain he inflicted upon Sammy and the pair learns to become friends and vow never to call anyone names again.

The story is incredibly well written and would be appropriate with young children, as it is simple, yet allows children to really connect through the text. At the end of the book, Lehman poses the reader with a set of questions to use when sharing the story with children. These questions will help ensure that the most is taken away from the story! This is definitely a story I will try to incorporate in my Head Start classroom this year, as though the children are young and don't often understand the feelings they inflict with their words, there is certainly an abundance of name calling... perhaps this will help them to understand how they would feel, as well as how others on the receiving end feel when called a name.

Learning/Reading Activity:

• Have your child choose one of the topics below to journal about:
  * Pick a time you were teased or called a name. Describe that time and write about how that made you feel.
  * Create a poster that teaches the lesson "treat others as you wish to be treated."
  * What would you do if you saw someone being teased or called a name by another person?
  

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I Can Do It!

Book 3 in the Walnut Grove series encourages children to believe in themselves!

Lehman, Dana.
I Can Do It!
May 2010.
Lehman Publishing.
Review copy provided courtesy of publisher.

The characters of Walnut Grove return to teach readers another important life lesson in I Can Do It! After Bucky's near drowning experience in I DOUBLE Dare You!, he learned to take responsibility for his own actions and came to the decision to take swimming a bit more seriously. After spending a great deal of time practicing and learning how to swim, Bucky feels confident in his ability to swim and catch a frog on a lily pad. While some of his Walnut Grove friends discourage him from doing so upon remember his last swimming adventure, Bucky believes in his ability to swim now and eager sets forth, proving that his belief in himself, coupled with lots of hard work has enabled him to learn to swim.

In I Can Do It!, the Walnut Grove characters return to experience a new adventure, visiting a magic forest. It is there that Silly learns the important lesson to believe in himself. After displaying fear of being hurt while building a tree house, Willy lets Silly's friends know that he has become invisible because he "doesn't have the confidence to believe in himself." With much encouragement from his friends and the reminder that he is in a magical forest, Silly begins to believe in himself and eventually does help out building the tree house.

The important lesson to be learned is that belief in yourself is a form of magic - if you believe you can do it, you WILL do it... this is a very important lesson for children who hesitate and seem unsure of themselves, allowing them to find the confidence to try! Definitely a great book for households, libraries and classrooms, as you never know when a child will need this form of encouragement and message!

Reading/Learning Activities:

• In their summer journal, have your child write a list of new things they would like to try/achieve this summer. This will give them a purpose to do something productive each day and to track their success as it is achieved.
  
• Choose one of the topics mentioned in their summer journal and encourage your child to believe in his/herself by trying something new this summer. Ask them about something they would like to do but are a bit fearful of - use words of encouragement and gentle prodding to help them realize that their belief in themselves will enable them to achieve a personal goal! Keep a scrapbook of your child's attempts to achieve their goal - including failures from day one until the day they reach their goal. This will be neat to turn into a book and a great reminder of the summer's achievements!

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If you're interested in finding out more information about any of the books reviewed or if you'd like to purchase the books, click the cover image for a link to Amazon.com. I am an Amazon Affiliate, so any purchases you make after clicking these images will result in my receiving a small percentage of the sale price!

Children will quickly understand the importance of taking responsibility for your own actions and learning to make the good (and right) choice!

Lehman, Dana.
I DOUBLE Dare You!
April 2008.
Lehman Publishing.
Review copy provided courtesy of publisher.

Silly and Sassy head to Walnut Grove Resort to spend a week vacationing with their cousin, Sammy. Sammy knows that he has to watch out for his cousins, as they're always getting in trouble. However, despite his best efforts, Sammy isn't able to keep the pair out of trouble and it takes a big adventure for Silly and Sassy to learn the lesson that they have to take responsibility for their own actions and not just try and please their friends (or others), especially if they know that they're about to do something that could be considered "wrong."

After number behavior issues have popped up in my Head Start classroom, I just knew I had to share this book with my students after having read it on my own. I got mixed reactions when I read it. Of 16 children, I would say about half sat contentedly and listened. The other half behaved in a typical manner, unable to sit for a story of any length. It's not unexpected, at least in my room! The children who were engaged were VERY engaged and responded appropriately throughout, including making appropriate predictions! From my conversation and interaction with the children, I would say they definitely were able to understand the message shared... and I'm hoping that it will sink in, as many of those who were engaged are also my "behaviors," who could certainly benefit from the message given! We'll have to see how things go, but I'm thinking with a few reminders of the characters and the message, they just might catch on!

It's also easy to see why I DOUBLE Dare You! is the recipient of the Mom's Choice Award - any mother would want their child to understand the importance of the message relayed in this wonderfully written and illustrated book! I'm so glad to have been informally introduced to the author through a cousin!



If you're interested in finding out more information about any of the books reviewed or if you'd like to purchase the books, click the cover image for a link to Amazon.com. I am an Amazon Affiliate, so any purchases you make after clicking these images will result in my receiving a small percentage of the sale price!