Turkey Trouble

     Silvano, Wendy (2009).  Turkey Trouble.  New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation

      ISBN #978-0-7614-5529-5

“Turkey Trouble” is a fun book about a turkey that makes the discovery that he is going to become the main course for Thanksgiving dinner.  The turkey realizes that this is a big problem and comes up with some funny creative disguises to help him get out of this big mess.  

I think this book would be great for children age’s three to five because the story line is funny and can keep the interest of the children.  Each page leaves the children pondering on the ideas of what will happen next for our turkey friend. 

The expressions of the characters faces in the book are comical and this is conveyed through the great illustrations of the book.  The pictures are colorful, big, and easy to see.  The children can also get an idea about the turkey’s character through the detail of the illustrations. This book is also based around the Thanksgiving holiday and the illustrations help portray that sense of fall.  The natural colors and tones help to set the scene. 
 

To help introduce this book to children, I would set out a tray of interesting disguises.  (i.e.: fake mustaches, different types of eyeglasses, a selection of funny noses, etc.).  I would let them explore with the different types of facial pieces and get them to see how many interesting disguises they could come up with.

Another idea I would use to help introduce this book to children would be to laminate and enlarge a picture of the turkey from this book.  I would then dress him up in a disguise and get the children try and guess what kind of animal was in disguise.

    3 ways to present the story

Puppets:  To present the story this way, I would use wool socks.  To make the turkey, I would hot glue on some googly eyes and feathers.  I think this would help the turkey look funny.  I would also use socks to make the other characters in the book.  For the sheep, I would also glue on some googly eyes and cotton.  For the cows, I would attach pieces of white and black felt to the socks.  To make the pig, I would cut out a snout and ears from using pink felt.

Story props:  To present the story this way, I would use a large piece of flat cardboard from the bottom of a big box.  Then I would hot glue on pieces of straw.  This material will help give the children the idea that the setting of the story is in a barn.  I would then add farm animal figurines.  (These can be purchased at dollar stores).  The teacher could then use the figurines (story props) to tell the story or come up with their own creative way to improvise another story.

Magnet board:  To present the story this way, I would use a cookie sheet.  I then would photocopy and laminate pictures from the book and add magnetic adhesive strips to the back. Then I would let the children explore with them and try to guess what character the turkey was trying to disguise himself as the story was being told.

      3 possible extensions

Mask making:  I would have the children make their own comical masks using paper plates.  I would then put different materials that the children could use to make their masks into different disguises.  Some of the materials I would put out for their masks would be cotton balls, feathers, pipe cleaners (to make interesting glasses), or any other materials that could be related to the book.

Turkey making:  The story is based around the Thanksgiving holiday so I would also want to incorporate the idea about being thankful. To help the children understand this idea, I would ask them what they think they are thankful for in their lives.  I would then document this for each child.  I would then have the children make a turkey.  They could use colorful construction paper for the wings of the turkey.  On each wing, I would help the child write down what they are thankful for. 

Outdoor experience:  For this extension I would take the children outside and help the children discover what is related to fall in our environment.  I would also help the children understand that we should be thankful for our environment such as fresh air, clean water, trees etc.