Seeing Sky-Blue Pink Seeing Sky-Blue Pink. Candice Ransom, Carolrhoda Books, Inc, 2007. Grade Level: 3-5 ISBN & Cost: 978-0-8225-7142-1, $16.95 Blanket Permission to Reproduce Book Jackets: Seeing Sky-Blue Pink © 2007 by Candice Ransom. Cover reprinted with the permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. |
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Synopsis:
Maddie's mother has just married Sam and they are now living on Sam's farm instead of in the big city where Maddie grew up. Eight-year-old Maddie's not sure whether she will like it here in the country, but she is willing to try. Sam is kind and patient and makes Maddie feel right at home, even letting her choose what color she will paint her bedroom…
”How about sky-blue pink?” he (Sam) said to Maddie.
“That's not a real color.”
“It is a real color. Haven't you ever seen sky-blue pink?”
General Review:
Eight-year-old Maddie and her stuffed donkey, Buckingham, are moving to a farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her mother and new step-father, Sam and the Sam's cat, Abraham, who can predict the weather…and has many other incredible talents. Sam works his way into Maddie's heart by being patient and kind. He plants a dogwood tree outside her bedroom window, gives her a wheelbarrow ride to the neighbors house, takes her with him on the tractor as they plow the back acre, lets her pick out the color of paint for her bedroom, and even spends an afternoon building her a tree house without harming the tree. Maddie remembers how life was in the city of Manassas, Virginia, with just her and her mother. Times had been sad after her real father went away. Now she is learning to trust again, but can this be real? Sam and Maddie have many adventures together that help strengthen that trust. This is a positive story about a step-father and step-daughter relationship as seen through the eyes of an eight-year-old that is a delight to witness. Sam helps Maddie believe in herself, and as you read, you can see the maturity, trust, and love that develops along the way.
Themes: Stepfather, Remarriage, Moving Household, Fear, Country Life, Family,
Author Information: Candice Ransom holds a Master of Fine Arts in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College. Her fiction and picture books have been named to the New York Public Library's 100 Best Children's Book list, the ABA Bookselling This Week Kids' Pick of the Lists, and the Virginia Young Readers List. She lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/aifolder/aipages/ai_r/ransom.html
Discussion Questions: (Standard 3; Benchmark 3)
• Describe Maddie before and after Sam became her step-father. How did she mature?
• Describe the “Perfect Days” when Maddie lived with her mother in the city. Why do you think that Maddie misses the city? What things do Maddie's mother and Sam do to help her feel at home in the country?
• Maddie learns to trust Sam, but what problem in this story puts that trust to the test? Why do you think that Maddie was afraid that Sam would tell her mother, Do you know what Maddie did? She ran off inthe woods like a two-year-old! ? Why do you think that Sam never told Maddie's mother what happened in the woods?
Suggested Activities:
• Similes are figures of speech in which unlike things are compared to give the reader a mental picture to use as they read. Have your students find similes throughout the story, and then discuss them. (Standard 5, Benchmark 2)
• Superstitions are the belief or practice not based on reason or knowledge. On page 16, Mrs. Tompkins said, ”I dropped a fork this morning, so I baked pie.” Then Sam says, “There's an old saying, ‘Fork falls, lady calls.' Miss Eliza means she knew a lady was coming to visit.” The website below gives some common superstitions. Talk about how superstitions get started. http://www.csicop.org/superstition/library/common.html
(Standard 2, Benchmark 3)
• Maddie was intrigued by the wax paper. Sam said, “In the fall, we'll find leaves and make wax paper pictures.” Have the student bring leaves to school and have fun making wax paper pictures. The websites below show different projects to do with wax paper and leaves.
http://forestry.about.com/od/forestryhowtodos/ht/leaf_press.htm
http://www.thebestkidsbooksite.com/craftdetails3.cfm?CraftID=519
(Standard 5, Benchmark 3)
• Purchase a small lunch box for the classroom. Maddie's was black, and she even put her name on it with chalk. At the local home improvement store, ask about getting a variety of single color paint chips. Have the students choose a paint chip they like and write a wish on the back. Put all these in the lunch box. Each day, bring out a paint chip and read the wish. Don't tell who it is from, or it might not come true… With the paint chips you have read, put them in a nice quilt block display on a bulletin board. (Standard 5, Benchmark 3)
• Sky-blue pink lends itself to talking about clouds. Use the following books to identify different cloud shapes. During recess, have student identify the cloud formations.
Estigarribia, Diana. Learning About Weather with Graphic Organizers .
New York, NY: PowerKids Press. 2005.
Sherman, Josepha. Shapes in the Sky : A Book About Clouds . Minneapolis,
Minn.: Picture Window Books, c2004.
Cosgrove, Brian. Eyewitness Books: Weather . London, England : Dorling
Kindersley Limited. 1991.
(Standard 5, Benchmark 2)
• Maddie found one of Sam's old books Grimm's Fairy Tales while they were cleaning out the basement. Find a copy at the library and read a few to your class. (Standard 5, Benchmark 2)
Similar Books for Further Reading:
• Iris and Walter by Elissa Haden Guest: ©2006
When Iris moves to the country, she misses the city where she formerly lived; but with
the help of a new friend named Walter, she learns to adjust to her new home.
