Reading Sneezy the Snowman

During a read aloud time , we read the book Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright.  

We used the book to talk about whether the book was fiction or non-fiction and what evidence we could use to support our decision.  We talked a little about how Maureen Wright, as the author, got to decide who the characters would be and what would happen to them.  But we really discussed retelling the book.  When retelling, we talked about the characters, where they were, and who had a problem.  When we discovered the problem, we discussed what the characters did to solve the problem.  Ask your child what Sneezy's problem was and how he tried to solve it.  (Hint:  Sneezy made three poor choices, but his friends helped him make better choices--what were they?)

We were able to retell part of the story by writing about what mistakes Sneezy made:

"Sneezy the Snowman melted when [he] stood by the fire."

"Sneezy the Snowman melted when he stood by the fire and drank hot chocolate."

"Sneezy the Snowman melted when he go in the hot tub."

Based on what we learned from the book, we extended our understanding of the book by talking and writing about what a snowman should not do.  

Here are some of the results:

 "A snowman should not drink hot chocolate because it melts."

"A snowman should not go to Hawaii because there is volcanoes."

"A snowman should not stand close to the fire because he will melt."

What other books can you retell?