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Zen Ghosts
Last updated Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Author: Jon J. Muth
Date of Publication: 2010
ISBN: 9780439634304
Grade Level: 3rd (GLCs: Click here for grade level guidelines.)
Date(s) Used: Oct. 2024
Synopsis:
It's Halloween. The trees are ablaze in fiery reds. Excited children don colorful costumes. And there's mystery and fun around every corner! When Addy, Michael, and Karl finish trick-or-treating, their bags are brimming with treats. But the fun isn't over yet. Their good friend Stillwater the panda has one more special surprise in store for them. A mysterious visitor is about to tell them a spine-tingling story - one that will fill each and every reader with wonder.
| Note to readers: |
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The story starts conventionally, it’s Halloween, a visiting friend is mistaken for a ghost, and the children go trick-or-treating; every page is wonderfully drawn and colored.
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But the ghost story is a “trojan horse!” It introduces a mystifying zen “koan,” (a story containing a paradox that challenges our logical view of our world); in this case the koan addresses the “duality” of our identity; we may be one person, but we behave differently depending on our surroundings…there are different possibilities within us (see the Author’s Note).
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| Discussion topics for before reading: |
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Do you like ghost stories?
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Are you going “trick-or-treating” on Halloween?
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When you put on a costume or a mask, do you become a different person? Even if no one recognizes you in your costume?
Vocabulary
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Well-matched: good for each other, similar in character and ability
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Prosperous: successful, especially in the things necessary for a good life
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Vague: unclear, uncertain, not well defined, hazy…as if in a fog
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Astonished: very surprised or impressed. amazed
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Merge: combine one or more things into a single thing
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| Discussion topics for during/after reading: |
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Why doesn’t Karl doesn’t recognize his friend Stillwell (the huge white Panda) at the front door?
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Michael wants to be an Owl for Halloween, or maybe a Pirate…can he choose to be both?
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In the “ghost story”, we see a young woman named Senjo run away to be married and have children…then we see a Senjo who never ran away, sick and unhappy at her old home. Can these both be true? How can we understand this? (two possible outcomes in one story?)
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Do you act differently in different situations or depending on who is near you (e.g., do you act one way around your teacher, another when around your parents, another way when you are around your friends)?Are you still the same person? Is there always the possibility of change within us?
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| Craft ideas: |
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Make a Panda mask using a paper plate and string, black marker, and construction paper.
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We have a special "Castles, Dragons & Dinosaurs" craft suggested for this month. See https://www.paulsprehistoricpark.com/?p=7748. This craft recommends the use of white gelly roll pens. If you have some or can pick some up, they will help with drawing on BLACK construction paper, since most of the schools do not have them in the craft boxes already.
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| Special activities: |
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Students take turns becoming a favorite famous person or animal or thing. The other students take turns asking questions to try to determine who or what the secret person / animal / thing is.
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*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!
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