The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors



Last updated Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Author: Drew Daywalt
Illustrator: Adam Rex
Date of Publication: 2017
ISBN: 0062438891
Grade Level: 1st    (GLCs: Click here for grade level guidelines.)
Date(s) Used: Jan. 2024

Synopsis: From acclaimed, bestselling creators Drew Daywalt, author of The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home, and Adam Rex, author-illustrator of Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, comes this hilarious picture book about the epic tale of the classic game Rock, Paper, Scissors. You've played the game. Now read the legend of the three great warriors who started it all . . .

"I couldn’t stop laughing while reading this aloud to a group of kids," commented the founder of Bookopolis.com, Kari Ness Riedel.

Discussion topics for before reading:
•  What is your favorite game to play with your friends?
•  What game did you play with your friends this week?
•  Have you ever played Rock, Paper & Scissors*? (*Rock, Paper & Scissors is an intransitive hand game, usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstretched hand. Ask your fellow readers if you don't know how to play.)

Vocabulary:

•  Scissors are hand-operated shearing tools. Scissors are used for cutting various thin materials, such as paper, cardboard, metal foil, cloth, rope, and wire
•  Warrior a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics.
•  Sad feeling or showing sorrow; unhappy.
•  Office a room, set of rooms, or building used as a place for commercial or professional use.
•  Power the ability to do something or act in a particular way, strong.

Discussion topics for during/after reading:
•  What was clothespin holding?
•  Who won the battle between Rock and clothespin?
•  What did paper battle?
•  What was in the garbage pin?
•  Who was more victorious? Rock or Scissors?

Craft ideas:
•  What was your favorite battle screen from our story todat. Draw a picture of Rock, Paper or Scissors battling one of your favorite toys or items. Is it Rock battling your favorite book or Paper battling your pet? Capture the scene in your drawing and share the drawing with your classmates.
•  Materials needed: Construction paper, slim markers, crayons, stencil, and scissors.

Special activities:
•  Everyone plays each other at rock paper scissors (rock beats scissors; scissors beat paper; paper beats rock). If you lose, you are now the biggest fan of the person who just beat you and you have to cheer them on until they lose. If they lose you are now the biggest fans of the person who just beat them and so on. Eventually there will be two people left with big cheering squads. The last person left is the winner.
•  Materials needed: The class and RTK volunteer

*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!