Stuart Little by E.B. White

Book Genre: Fiction/Fantasy
Publishing Info: Harper and Row Publishing Company, 1945, 131 pages
Awards or honors received: None

Summary: Stuart Little is born a mouse to a human family. Stuart is raised and loved as a son by the Little family and is only conflict is with the family pet cat Snowbell. Things change when Stuart meets and falls in love with a bird named Margallo. Margallo disappears after recieving an anonymous note warning of danger in the form of a stray cat. Devastated by the loss of his love interest, Stuart decides to take the opportunity to make his own way in the world and leaves his family home to search for Margallo. Throughout his search, Stuart is sidetracked as other opportunities present themselves and he takes the time to serve as a substitute teacher and pursue the diminutive Harriet Ames. When things fall apart with Ms. Ames, Stuart once more takes to the road and ends his adventures by heading north, pursuing Margallo.

Personal rating and reason for rating: Good story, interesting, engaging plot. Students will become involved with amusing adventures.

Reading level: AR Level 6.0

Interest level: Grade 3-6

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study:

Stuart's relative size presents huge problems. Students could study ratios in math and the concepts of scale modeling.

In science students could study predator/prey relationships as it relates to cats and birds as well as cats and mice. Furthermore they could consider whether, given the relationship of predator and prey a mouse would likely fall in love with a bird.

The story is set approxiametely 60 years ago. In social studies students could compare how aspects of society (prices, culture, transportation, educational practices) have changed from then to now.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Characters and situations are realistic. So long as you are willing to suspend your disbelief in regards to a personified mouse, there should be no real difficulties with this story.

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit

Book Genre: Fiction/Fantasy
Publishing Info: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1975, 144 pages

Awards or honors received: NA

Summary: A young girl Winnie meets a family who has obtained immortality by consuming the water of a hidden spring in the woods. The family having not aged in over 200 years reflects on how times have changed. The family patriarch in particular has come to see this immortality as as not a blessing but a curse and bemoans that fact that he is unable to die, going so far as to attempt at various times over the years to take his life. The family takes to Winnie, particularly, the oldest son who sees Winnie as a potential mate, and offers to grant her immortality by allowing her to drink from the spring. In the end Winnie must weigh the consequences of her decision.

Personal rating and reason for rating: Good, an interesting perspective on a subject, immortality, that most have considered at some point in their lives.

Reading level: AR level 5.0

Interest level: Fifth or Sixth grade

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Open-mind portraits could be created for Winnie and the Tuck family father.
Debates could be arranged between those in favor or opposed to immortality.
Students could analyze how Winnie changes through this text and how the encounter with the Tuck family influences those changes.
Science could be tied in through the idea of ecological succession as students consider how the woods change over time.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: The topic of death may be difficult for some students.