Stuck



Last updated Sunday, January 5, 2014

Author: Oliver Jeffers
Date of Publication: 2011
ISBN: 0399257373
Grade Level: 1st    (GLCs: Click here for grade level guidelines.)
Date(s) Used: Jan. 2014

Synopsis: When Floyd's kite gets stuck in a tree, he's determined to get it out. But how? Well, by knocking it down with his shoe, of course. But strangely enough, it too gets stuck. And the only logical course of action . . . is to throw his other shoe. Only now it's stuck! Surely there must be something he can use to get his kite unstuck. An orangutan? A boat? His front door? Yes, yes, and yes. And that's only the beginning. Stuck is Oliver Jeffers' most absurdly funny story since The Incredible Book-Eating Boy. Childlike in concept and vibrantly illustrated as only Oliver Jeffers could, here is a picture book worth rescuing from any tree.

Discussion topics for before reading:
•  Based on the cover, what do you think this book is about?
•  Have you ever had anything get stuck up in a tree? If so, were you able to get it down? How?
•  What kind of things could get stuck in a tree? (kites, cats, balloons, balls, frisbees, etc)

Vocabulary:
•  unbelievably - hard to believe; astonishingly; incredibly
•  fetched - To go after something and return with it.
•  ridiculous - Deserving or inspiring ridicule; absurd, preposterous, or silly.
•  flung - threw something with force
•  orangutan - a large, mostly arboreal (lives in trees), long-armed anthropoid ape, Pongo pygmaeus, of Borneo and Sumatra.
•  rhinoceros - A large, thick-skinned, herbivorous mammals of the family Rhinocerotidae, of Africa and Asia, having one or two upright horns on the snout.
•  lads - a boy or young man

Discussion topics for during/after reading:
•  What is the main character's name?
•  What was the first item to get stuck in the tree?
•  How did he try to get the kite down?
•  What are other ways to get something that is stuck out of a tree?
•  What was the biggest thing that got stuck in the tree?
•  Which items were actually bigger than a tree?
•  What was the fireman's idea to get everything down from the tree?

Craft ideas:
•  Make a paper bag tree with lots of things "stuck" in it. Cut a paper bag in half (long-ways), cut strips for branches in the top half and crinkle the bag. Glue the bag onto construction paper. Attach &/or draw lots of objects "stuck" to the tree branches, such as a kite with string hanging down, shoes, a ladder, a bucket with colorful paint, and other objects such as in the book (or any other objects that you can think of).

*Note: These craft ideas are just suggestions. You can use them, but you don't have to use them. You can expand upon them, or add your own twist. Remember, though, that the focus of your time should not be on the development and execution of a craft; the focus should be on the read-aloud and the enjoyment of the book!