Title: Bridge to Terabithia
Author: Patterson, Katherine
Illustrator: Diamond, Donna
Publisher and Date: Scholastic Inc., 1977
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Range: 4th-6th grade
Author: Patterson, Katherine
Illustrator: Diamond, Donna
Publisher and Date: Scholastic Inc., 1977
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Range: 4th-6th grade
1978 Newberry Medal Winner
Summary:
This book tells the wonderful story of two best friends, Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke. Jess is a lonely ten-year-old boy whose only ambition for the upcoming school year is to be the fattest runner in school. Leslie is also lonely; she is the new girl in town and Jess’s new neighbor. It takes a while, but both of them finally decide that they would make perfect friends. From that point on they are inseparable. They spend their schooldays in the same class, their recesses talking together, and their afternoons in their own magical world of Terabithia. Terabithia is a magical place just for the two of them. Here they can escape from their real and imaginary enemies (Mrs. Meyers their teacher, Janice Avery the school bully, and Jess’s annoying four sisters). Jess could not imagine a more perfect friend than Leslie. She encourages his creativity and imagination and accepts him just the way he is. She teaches him stories and pushes him to the limits of his fears. Unexpectedly tragedy strikes; Jess returns home form a “perfect” day with his music teacher, Miss Edmunds, to discover that Leslie has drowned on her way to Terabithia. Jess experiences denial, sorrow, and finally acceptance with Leslie’s lessons guiding him through all three steps. The story ends with Jess introducing a new queen to the Terabithian people, his sister May Belle.
Response:
Wow! I absolutely LOVED this book! For such a short read (only 128 pages!) it is packed with life lessons and unforgettable characters! Jess is definitely a “round” character in this book. He learns so much from Leslie in the short time that he knew her. He learned that it’s ok to be afraid, even Leslie was afraid sometimes, especially when she had to confront Janice Avery in the girl’s bathroom. She encouraged him to pursue his artistic passion and even bought him the supplies to do so at Christmas. She taught him all about the world; she recounted many fascinating stories to him from The Chronicles of Narnia (pg.39) and Moby Dick (pg.41) to the Biblical stories of creation (40) and Moses(pg.58 and 88). Jess and Leslies friendship touched my heart. They are such a testimony to the difference one friend can make!
This book also dealt with so many good issues and life lessons. Paterson encourages children to break away from the stereotypical norms of society. In the story Jess wanted to be an artist and was afraid of his father’s reaction and Leslie was constantly looked down upon because she chose to wear pants instead of dresses to school. Through these two examples children are encouraged to be themselves, whatever that might be no matter what others say. She also encourages children to reach out to others and to be accepting of everyone. Jess and Leslie would have never become friends if Jess had not finally decided that he did not care what the crowd thought. I love what he says to himself when he realizes this…. “Caught in the pure delight of it (singing), Jess turned and his eyes met Leslie’s. He smiled at her. What the heck? There wasn’t any reason he couldn’t. What was he scared of anyhow?” Along with this thought she also teaches children that it is ok for a girl and a boy to be best friends. Even though his sisters tease him about this, Jess knows that there is no better friend in the world than Leslie. Patterson deals with family issues in the book through Jess’s struggling, tired parents, his materialistic older sisters and his desperate for attention younger ones. She also deals with socioeconomic issues; Jess’s family struggles to get by, while for Leslie’s family money is no object. The final and perhaps hardest issue to face in the book is dealing with death. I personally had tears running down my face when I read that Leslie had died. In my head I cried out no! How unfair! How can Jess’s one friend be taken from him? Patterson does such a good job at delicately dealing with this subject; she allows the reader to see Jess progressing from denial to suffering and finally to acceptance. She teaches readers that it is ok to grieve. Mrs. Meyers gives Jess valuable words of wisdom and he holds onto them; she teaches him that no matter if Leslie is here or not he never has to forget her.
Teaching Ideas:
What can you not use this book for? It is going to be a must read for my future classroom. The discussions you could have in class based on this book would be phenomenal. There were some great questions listed in the back of the book to help kids process the story. As a teacher you could help talk them through some of the more difficult ones. Another great idea would be to have them write a journal entry describing their “best friend” and why they would consider that person their best friend.
Check out these websites for more great ideas:
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=981
http://www.literatureplace.com/bookfolios/bookfolio.asp?BookfolioID=146#Read-aloud%20Recommendation:
Summary:
This book tells the wonderful story of two best friends, Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke. Jess is a lonely ten-year-old boy whose only ambition for the upcoming school year is to be the fattest runner in school. Leslie is also lonely; she is the new girl in town and Jess’s new neighbor. It takes a while, but both of them finally decide that they would make perfect friends. From that point on they are inseparable. They spend their schooldays in the same class, their recesses talking together, and their afternoons in their own magical world of Terabithia. Terabithia is a magical place just for the two of them. Here they can escape from their real and imaginary enemies (Mrs. Meyers their teacher, Janice Avery the school bully, and Jess’s annoying four sisters). Jess could not imagine a more perfect friend than Leslie. She encourages his creativity and imagination and accepts him just the way he is. She teaches him stories and pushes him to the limits of his fears. Unexpectedly tragedy strikes; Jess returns home form a “perfect” day with his music teacher, Miss Edmunds, to discover that Leslie has drowned on her way to Terabithia. Jess experiences denial, sorrow, and finally acceptance with Leslie’s lessons guiding him through all three steps. The story ends with Jess introducing a new queen to the Terabithian people, his sister May Belle.
Response:
Wow! I absolutely LOVED this book! For such a short read (only 128 pages!) it is packed with life lessons and unforgettable characters! Jess is definitely a “round” character in this book. He learns so much from Leslie in the short time that he knew her. He learned that it’s ok to be afraid, even Leslie was afraid sometimes, especially when she had to confront Janice Avery in the girl’s bathroom. She encouraged him to pursue his artistic passion and even bought him the supplies to do so at Christmas. She taught him all about the world; she recounted many fascinating stories to him from The Chronicles of Narnia (pg.39) and Moby Dick (pg.41) to the Biblical stories of creation (40) and Moses(pg.58 and 88). Jess and Leslies friendship touched my heart. They are such a testimony to the difference one friend can make!
This book also dealt with so many good issues and life lessons. Paterson encourages children to break away from the stereotypical norms of society. In the story Jess wanted to be an artist and was afraid of his father’s reaction and Leslie was constantly looked down upon because she chose to wear pants instead of dresses to school. Through these two examples children are encouraged to be themselves, whatever that might be no matter what others say. She also encourages children to reach out to others and to be accepting of everyone. Jess and Leslie would have never become friends if Jess had not finally decided that he did not care what the crowd thought. I love what he says to himself when he realizes this…. “Caught in the pure delight of it (singing), Jess turned and his eyes met Leslie’s. He smiled at her. What the heck? There wasn’t any reason he couldn’t. What was he scared of anyhow?” Along with this thought she also teaches children that it is ok for a girl and a boy to be best friends. Even though his sisters tease him about this, Jess knows that there is no better friend in the world than Leslie. Patterson deals with family issues in the book through Jess’s struggling, tired parents, his materialistic older sisters and his desperate for attention younger ones. She also deals with socioeconomic issues; Jess’s family struggles to get by, while for Leslie’s family money is no object. The final and perhaps hardest issue to face in the book is dealing with death. I personally had tears running down my face when I read that Leslie had died. In my head I cried out no! How unfair! How can Jess’s one friend be taken from him? Patterson does such a good job at delicately dealing with this subject; she allows the reader to see Jess progressing from denial to suffering and finally to acceptance. She teaches readers that it is ok to grieve. Mrs. Meyers gives Jess valuable words of wisdom and he holds onto them; she teaches him that no matter if Leslie is here or not he never has to forget her.
Teaching Ideas:
What can you not use this book for? It is going to be a must read for my future classroom. The discussions you could have in class based on this book would be phenomenal. There were some great questions listed in the back of the book to help kids process the story. As a teacher you could help talk them through some of the more difficult ones. Another great idea would be to have them write a journal entry describing their “best friend” and why they would consider that person their best friend.
Check out these websites for more great ideas:
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=981
http://www.literatureplace.com/bookfolios/bookfolio.asp?BookfolioID=146#Read-aloud%20Recommendation:
Also feel free to check out the movie....but only after youve read the book :-)
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