During the next few weeks I will be giving you a chance to win some great books to add to your “Bucket filling” collection of feel good books! Dana Leham, the author of the Walnut Grove Children’s collection of books, has graciously given Teaching Heart three signed books to give away to you! I have enjoyed all three books very much and look forward to sharing them with you! Check back often over the next few weeks to learn about a new book and to enter to win it!!!
Today’s giveaway is for:
A Lesson About Teasing – Click here to view on Amazon!
A Lesson About Teasing is a book I knew would become a part of my “Bucket Filling Collection“. It a beautifully told and illustrated story of a very important lesson: “Treat others the way you want to be treated!” Once you view the cover, you instantly want to pick up the book and hug it even before you open it. On the cover you see Sammy the squirrel with tears falling from his eyes. Both my seven year old and the preschool class I read this to were instantly drawn to the cover and wondering why this adorable squirrel was crying. Of course we had to make our predictions about what may be causing the sweet squirrel to be so sad.
When you open the book and begin to join Sammy at Walnut Grove, you are instantly drawn to the beautiful illustrations. The author shares what makes Sammy unique. All of us can make a text to text connection with Sammy since each of us can recall ways we are different and unique from the people around us. Just as Sammy is unique, so are each of us. My daughter was happy to share what made her unique from other people, just as Sammy was unique from other squirrels!
As you read through the story you realize what a great teaching tool this book is for both parents and teachers. It teaches one of the most important rules… teasing hurts others and getting along is easier when we treat others kindly. Although God is not mentioned in this book, as a Sunday school teacher, I can see how this would be a valuable book to use in a Sunday School lesson about being kind to others as Jesus wanted us to. Love your neighbor!!!
Sammy is teased in the story for his physical looks. When Sammy is teased in the story he cannot understand why he is being treated unkindly. In fact, he never teased anyone before and he was always kind to other animals… He was following the rule he had been taught by his parents to treat others the way he wanted to be treated. The animal that teases Sammy is also later teased (what goes around comes around) and this is when the teaser realizes that teasing really does hurt and he recalls the words he says to Sammy and feels guilty. In the end, the animals soon come to the conclusion that it does not matter what you look like on the outside, what truly matters is the kind of person you are in the inside.
This book teaches a very important lesson using visuals and words that Preschool age to second grade students can relate to and understand. It helps children see what teasing does and how it can make other feel. Furthermore, it shows a child that our words have consequences. I have always felt that the best way to introduce a lesson on character development is with a book. Adventures At Walnut Grove – A Lesson About Teasing is a great way to start a discussion with children about how we each are unique creatures made by God and that all of us deserve to be treated kindly. I think that this should be a book available in all elementary school libraries.
For lesson ideas and printables to match this book visit the authors website here to download some ideas
See below for details of how you may enter to win this book.
Also – Thursday and Friday you can save in my TPT store – click here to buy, buy, buy and make planning through 2014 easy, easy, easy!!!
