A Friend Like Simon

Witten by: Kate Gaynor

Illustrated by: Caitriona Sweeney

Age level: 6-9

Grade level: 1-3
Theme: Friendship, Acceptance

Summary:

A child with autism, Simon,  joins a mainstream classroom. Many children can find it difficult to understand and cope with a student who is somewhat different. This story encourages children to be aware of and patient with differences in others. Emphasis is placed on appreciating the positive contributions that Simon can make to the group. This book is a Moonbeam children's book award winner in 2009.

Themes:

Acceptance

Belonging

Appreciating Differences

About the Author:

Kate Gaynor is the author of 11 children’s books which address the issues of children with special educational needs, or health and social problems. Karen is the managing director of Special Stories Publishing and began work on the ‘Special Stories’ series in 2005, drawing on the personal experiences of friends, relatives and healthcare professionals. Kate is an English and Sociology graduate of University College Dublin.

Pre-reading activity

~ What makes a good friend? (5 minutes)

Make a list on the board

~Ask the students if they each have a good friend.

~Tell them that you will read a list of things that a friend may do and they will need to decide if it describes a good friend or a bad friend. Tell them that if the action describes a good friend, they should put their thumbs pointed up, and if the action describes a bad friend, they should put their thumbs pointed down. Have them practice doing both motions (without talking!) before you begin.

Then, list the following actions and have the students decide whether the action would be done by a good friend or a bad friend.

~Someone asks you to cheat on a test

~Someone hits you

~You tell someone a secret and they tell the whole class

~Someone shares their new toy with you

~Someone invites you to play a game with them

~Someone doesn’t like you, so they tell the whole class not to like you either

~Someone tattles on you when you weren’t doing anything wrong

~Someone helps you up after you’ve fallen down

~Someone calls you a mean name

~Someone invites you to come over to their house to play

~Someone takes your pencil without asking first

~Someone tells the class something about you that isn’t true

~Someone laughs at your joke

~Someone tries to look at your test in order to cheat

Afterwards, explain that in order to get a good friend, we have to be good friends ourselves.

Q. What we can do that would show that we are good friends? A. share, listen, help them out, give them gifts, encourage them, etc.

Post reading activity:

Recipe for being a good friend – work together with a partner and write a recipe for being a good friend.

Example:

Ingredients: Kindness, friendly, nice, sweet, honest, funny, etc....

Mix together for: fun, friendship, and good times

Blend in: music, activities, walks, good stories

Follow up: Have students take the recipe and write a 3 paragraph essay on what it takes to be a good friend.

Cosmic Carol Adventures in Color

Written by Lawrence Pitonza

Ages: 5-8

Theme:

Acceptance, Everyday Heros

Summary:

Cosmic Carol is a Dream Glider who is sent to earth by her dad, Father Star, to test if she is ready to use her magical skills. When she doesn't listen to him, he punishes her, and she loses her ability to see color. While on Earth, she meets Bailey and Brittany. She learns about friendship and families. She is successful because of her disability and saves the day. 

The message is that anyone can be a hero and successful, despite a having a disability.

Pre-Reading Activity:

Have students write in their journal what they think it would be like to not be able to see colors. Discuss their ideas.

Post-Reading Activity:

Work in groups to make a time-line of the events in the story. Have the students re-write the story in their own words. They can illustrate the pages. 

About the author:

Lawrence Pitonza has a B.A. in Visual Arts from Purchase College. In working with high profile A-listersin the movie industry in Hollywood, he has done photo shoots, commercials, special effects and prosthetics, costume and mask design, wig creations, and set and prop fabrications. Cosmic Carol is his first children's book. He lives in Metropolitan New York.

Reflection: 

The story in this book is a great story. While it has nice illustrations, it is very wordy. I think it could be shortened and keep the integrity of the story and draw more kids in. It would be a great story for many kids to read.