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| Vande Velde, V. (2012). 8 class pets + 1 squirrel ÷ 1 dog = chaos. New York: Holiday House. |
8 Class Pets + 1 Squirrel ÷ 1 Dog = Chaos
By Vivian Vande Velde
Illustrated by Steve Björkman
Published by Holiday House
New York, New York
2012
68 pages
While trying to escape from a hungry owl, Twitch, the school-yard squirrel, wakes up the principal's dog Cuddles and gets chased into School (yes, Twitch refers to the school as, simply, School). Cuddles chases Twitch all around School - Twitch is locked in! Twitch goes from classroom to classroom, each of which is inhabited by a class pet. Can Green Eggs and Hamster, Miss Lucy Cottontail, Sweetie, the Neon Tetras, Lenore, Nancy, Angel, Galileo, and Newton save Twitch from the crazy Cuddles? Purchase the book here.
8 Class Pets + 1 Squirrel ÷ 1 Dog = Chaos is a hysterical chapter book for elementary students. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character, starting with Twitch and continuing with each and every class pet involved in the zoo-like chaos. For very early readers, the changing perspectives might make the story a little bit harder to follow, but it makes for a good lesson on point of view! Hearing the story from different animals makes the book unique, interesting, and simply hilarious. These seemingly normal animals turn the elementary school into a zoo - a concept any child is sure to love! The book is intended to be read to children four and up, but students with grade three reading levels and higher could read this book independently. If you have a classroom pet, consider having students write a new chapter from your class pet's point of view!
Fun classroom activities available here!
Visit Vivian Vande Velde's website for further exploration. It includes her own pictures of animals mentioned in the story, a short excerpt, where she got her ideas from, and more.
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