PEANUT - Blog 5

I just read PEANUT by Linas Alsenas. This book is about a lonely old lady named, Mildred who was sitting on a bench one day and finds a stray. She decides to take it home. The stray won't eat dog food or bones, he only like peanuts. So that's what she names him. He helps her around the house and is a great couch warmer. When Mildred takes Peanut for a walk in the park, she notices that he is not like the other pets. He didn't act like the other dogs either. Maybe that's because he's an elephant! One day a man from the circus stops Mildred in the park and says "Madam, you have found our missing elephant" (Alsenas, 2007) Mildred quickly goes back to being lonely even though she visits Peanut at the circus, it isn't the same.Then one day she found another stray while sitting on the bench. 

PEANUT falls into the Fantasy genre. The places in the book exist but Mildred having Peanut as a pet could not happen.  The illustrations were very detailed using color pencils with highlights and shadows to bring out parts in the characters The facial expressions on Mildred and Peanuts face are priceless. 

For motivational activities I would: 1.) Teach the kids about the circus and the different animals that travel with them. I would have them color each one while writing out the name since this book is for the primary level (kindergarten). 2.) I would have the kids tell me in a discussion what kid of animal they would like to have as a pet. 

Some quetions I would ask while reading to the kids would be: 1.) Is an elephant a dog and does it eat dog food? 2,) What kind of food does it eat? 3.) What animal does Mildred this is a kitten?

This book was an easy read considering the grade level but I really thought it was cute. I can totally see an old lady treating any animal as a child.  

Alsenas, L. (2007). PEANUT. New York, NY: Scholastic  

 Galda, L. Cullinan,  B. E., & Sipe, L.R. (2010). Literature and the Child (7th ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworths, Inc.