Each Little Bird That Sings
Each Little Bird That Signs . Deborah Wiles; Gulliver Books, Harcourt, Inc. 2005
Grade Level: 3 - 5
ISBN & Cost: 0152051139 $16.00
Synopsis: Ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger knows firsthand about death because her family owns and operates the local funeral home in Snapfinger, Mississippi. With the death of two of her beloved family members, Comfort struggles with dealing with her own emotions, the emotions of her family, and her best friend.
General Review: Ten-year old Comfort Snowberger is very strong willed little girl. Comfort has been to over 200 funerals, since her dad is the mortician, but the death of Great-uncle Edisto and Great-great-aunt Florentine are really tough for Comfort, especially Great-great-aunt Florentine who was Comfort’s partner is just about everything. As if this weren’t enough, Comfort must deal with her over-emotional cousin, Peach Shuggars, and her waning friendship with best friend, Declaration Johnson. But through it all, she can depend upon her faithful dog, Dismay, to help her through these touch times. When a flash flood creates danger in a nearby creek, Comfort shows all just how strong-willed she can be. Comfort is that type of person you want to meet. She lives by the Snowberger motto which has been passed down from generation to generation, “We live to serve.” She has a positive outlook on life and isn’t afraid to stand up for what she thinks is right…although it may not always end up as she would like. Readers will see Comfort’s strength of character as she deals with loss of family and faithful friend.
Themes: Funerals, Death, Grief, Family, Mississippi, Dogs
Author Information: Deborah Wiles lives in Atlanta, Georgia and has written four books. One Wide Sky and Freedom Summer are both picture books. Love, Ruby Lavender and Each Little Bird That Sings are her other two novels. Both of her novels have been nominated for and received many awards. She holds a MFA from Vermont College where she now teaches classes on writing for children and young adults.
Interviews:
http://www.harcourtbooks.com/AuthorInterviews/bookinterview_Wiles.asp
http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/tr01/wiles.shtml
Discussion Questions: Standard 3, Benchmark 3
- Instead of obituaries, Comfort wrote Life Notices. What information would you include in your life notice?
- Comfort and her Great-great-aunt Florentine were working together on a cookbook entitled “Fantastic (and Fun) Funeral Food for Family and Friends”. Why do you think they started this cookbook? Why do you think that Comfort is continuing to add recipes?
- Comfort chose to go to Listening Rock and to her closet when she wanted to do some serious thinking. Where do you go when you want to be by yourself and do some serious thinking?
Suggested Activities:
1. Similes are figures of speech in which unlike things are compared to give the reader a mental picture to use as they read. Below are five similes found in the story. Tell what they mean. Now write a simile that describes you. (Standard 5, Benchmark 2)
p. 3 – The sky opened wide and rain sheared down like curtains.
p. 72 – Aunt Florentine had love to work on my hair. “Straight as a stick, thin as a lie, and tangled as a spider’s web!”
p. 88 – I flopped myself back onto my pillow, flipped the covers over my head, and held them bunched in my hands at my ears, which made the sheet fit tightly against my face. I was sure I looked like an Egyptian mummy (Discovering Our World Magazine, issue 12), and I began to picture myself in my pyramid, closeted away from everybody.
p. 148 – Leaves snapped in the breeze like little flags.
p. 159-160 – I grabbed Peach by his polka-dot tie and help on as we swung around in the current, banging into trees and each other—screaming like we were part of a carnival ride—all the way to te other side of the big oak tree where we slammed into the rose of Sharon bushes, water splashing over our heads, the current pulling us away, away.
2. Comfort created the” Top Ten Tips for First-rate Funeral Behavior” (page 47) so that everyone would know the proper etiquette when attending a funeral. Now it’s your turn. Create three or four tips for a “Top Ten Tips for First-rate School Behavior”. You may work independently or with a partner. When complete, share your tips with the class. As a class, create the “Top Ten Tips for First-rate School Behavior.” (Standard 9, Benchmark 1)
3. The author has created a map to help you understand the setting of the story as it unfolds. Draw a map of your classroom, then write a short paragraph about the classroom so that the reader can use you map and have a better understanding of the setting. For example, you might write about procedures for handing in homework, or how to get from your desk to the door, or where you sit and where your best friend sits. Use the map to help you. (Standard 5, Benchmark 3)
4. Read the interview with the author, Deborah Wiles, at the web site listed below. Using a Venn diagram, compare and contrast the author with Comfort Snowberger. What type of summary statement could you make based on the completed Venn Diagram? (Standard 3, Benchmark 1)
http://www.harcourtbooks.com/AuthorInterviews/bookinterview_Wiles.asp
5. Comfort makes many references throughout the book about Discovering Our World Magazine. Although this is a fictitious magazine, where might you go (print or internet) to find information about the Lewis and Clark expedition that Comfort references (Discovering Our World Magazine, issue 14) p. 32, as she is hiking to the top of Listening Rock? Since the Lewis and Clark expedition did not go as far south as Mississippi, what was Comfort referring to? (Standard 1, Benchmark 4 & 5)
6. Comfort refers to “metamorphic” rock p. 32. Using the following web site or another dictionary web site, write the definition of “metamorphic”. Remember to cite you source. (Standard 8, Benchmark 3)
Similar Books for Further Reading:
- Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles
- Saying Goodbye to Lulu by Corinne Demas
- Where is Grandpa? by T. A. Barron
- Flapjack Waltzes by Nancy Wilson
- Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park
- A Dog’s Life: An Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin