Games

Games provide another means of extending children's knowledge of books and authors. In planning games, children return to books--attending to the sequence of events, learning to evaluate these events in terms of progress or setbacks for the characters, and reinterpreting aspects of the story. In creating games, children become problem solvers as they fit their literary knowledge into the pattern of the game or design new game patterns to fit their book choices. In the construction and playing of games, children satisfy a natural inclination to play with something of their own making. Games bring teachers and children together in the mutual enjoyment of books.

Often picture books suggest games children can repeat in their own play. For instance, The Surprise Party by Pat Hutchins shows what happens to Rabbit's message, "I'm having a party tomorrow," as it is whispered from animal to animal. Children have delighted in playing this "telephone game" in a circle after hearing this story. Uncle Elephant by Arnold Lobel shows his nephew how to pass the time on a trip by counting houses, trees, or telephone poles. This game can save a long class bus trip for tired first-graders. After reading Arnold Lobel's story "A Lost Button" from Frog and Toad Are Friends, kindergartners would invent many games such as sorting, counting, and making patterns if given a large box of buttons to play with. They might list different ways of classifying the buttons, such as color, size, and shape. They might discover buttons similar to the one Toad lost and the many his friends found.

Guessing games are fun for everyone. "Who Am I?" begins a riddle game: "I drive a very small motorcycle by saying Pb-bb-bb. Who am I?" (Ralph, the mouse in Beverly Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle). "Twenty Questions" demands astute guessing by increasingly narrowing the field of possibilities. Older children quickly learn to ask selective questions like "Is it a fairy tale?" or "Does it take place in modern times?" before jumping to book titles or characters. Only yes-or-no questions may be asked. Crossword puzzles, if made by children, are also ways to get children to explore the various aspects of a book. However, word searches, even ones made by children, do little to send a reader back to a book and seem more like time-killing workbook exercises.

Children can be encouraged to construct board games or table games based on a single title or many titles. The basic game pattern of several players moving along a path toward a goal is familiar to most children. Players move forward by selecting a question card and answering correctly, following directions on the board or the card, rolling dice, or spinning a wheel. The game may be made more interesting by the addition of chance cards or choices of routes to the goal. Part of the fun of game making is choosing the game model; designing the playing pieces; deciding on spinners, cards, or dice for movement; and constructing the playing board.

A group of children created a game and rules based on the plot of Big Anthony and the Magic Ring by Tomie de Paola. It is helpful if game players know the book so that clues, rewards, and penalties will be understood. However, after playing the game, children unfamiliar with the book are often motivated to read it.

Card games based on the pair pattern of "Old Maid" or the fours pattern of "Go Fish" allow children to classify book titles, synthesize information across titles, or extract similar information from individual titles. Pairs of Mother Goose characters ("Bo Peep and her sheep," "Jack Horner and a Plum") or an author or illustrator and a book title are some of the possibilities for card games. Using folktales, children might make groups of four cards starting with these categories: magical objects, magical people, tales from a particular country, flying things, famous witches, giants, and so forth. Older children might pick a category such as fantasy stories and include four categories across thirteen titles for a full deck. Categories might include magical characters, the book title and author, and two fantastical items or elements from the story.

Children practice many skills in constructing their own games, such as categorizing their reading, recalling facts across a genre, making what they know fit a new pattern, or synthesizing and following through on a complicated set of plans. Games, of course, also need written directions for playing and, if they are displayed, a description of the source of the game or an explanation of how and by whom it was made. It is important for teachers to remember that the purpose of making and playing the games is to stimulate children's thinking and willingness to read, not to hasten mastery of isolated details from literature.

New Worlds

Works of high fantasy for older readers, such as Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea series and Lloyd Alexander's Pyrdain Chronicles, can provide an opportunity for a classroom exploration of these new worlds. This, in turn, can lead to discoveries about and comparisons with our everyday world. After reading A Wizard of Earthsea, one group of students might re-create a map of Earthsea, complete with noteworthy geographical features, and trace Ged's journey. Another group might undertake an analysis of societal roles in the novel, while a third group researches the economic structures of Earthsea. Similar activities could be carried out for the Pyrdain series, T. A. Barron's The Lost Years of Merlin, as well as C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.

Susan Cooper's series that includes The Dark Is Rising is rich with traditional motifs and symbols. Students can keep track of these motifs on a large chart that can be easily added to. The origins of these motifs and symbols can be explored through research into the history of the British Isles. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman can be accompanied by a reading of nonfiction books about the Aurora and the composition of matter.

Book Talks

A book talk is an oral book recommendation/review. Students choose a book that they have enjoyed reading and plan a brief book talk for their classmates. When giving the book talk students should display the book, give a brief synopsis of the book's plot, describe his or her response to the book, and explain why he/she is recommending the book to others.

Classroom book talks will help students become familiar with a variety of books that they might not otherwise have happened upon. In the wake of the sweeping popularity of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, teachers and librarians have tried to capitalize on children's interest by publishing booklists with titles such as: "If you liked Harry Potter, you'll love these books." As children anxiously await the publication of the next book in the Harry Potter series, they have the opportunity to experience the wealth of children's fantasy literature. Books talks by classmates can be an excellent vehicle to inspire such exploration.