Critical Issues Books (2)

Lovely Old Roly

Rosen, M. (2002). Lovely old Roly. London : Frances Lincoln Ltd.

ISBN # 0-7112-1488-3

It is a story about children whose cat is old and as a result died. His name is Roly. They are sad, miss their cat and the time they spent together. One day, they found a lost cat at the door and named it Sausage. They play games together that they used to play with Roly. They know Roly is not with them anymore. However, they can remember Roly all the time when they play with Sausage.

I think it is suitable for 3~5 year old children since they are familiar with pets, but sometimes they have to deal with the death of beloved pets. They can learn from this book that despite their death, they can still remember the precious time they spent together with them. From this book, children can also learn a little about the nature of aging and death.

The cover and pictures are very cute and attractive to children because inside it was decorated with the pictures of cats. On the other hand, the illustrations have realistic images about the scene when the children play with pets. I think the images can remind children of their pets or neighbors’ pets and happy memories.

Three ways to present the book:

1) Felt board – You can make a felt board and the children and cat’s characters. Or buy them ready-made at 3HCraftworks. Obviously, its characters provide an interesting atmosphere and release the seriousness of the content of the book.

2) Reading a book with music – Teachers can read this book with soothing music for the background. In this book, there are serious issues that children can think about, so music can arouse their interest and imagination about the situation. While the teacher is reading the book, it is better to have someone to help control the volume of music because when the teacher read the book, the volume has to go down.

3) Stick puppets – We can make stick puppets for the characters of the book and use a felt board for the background. I think children like stick puppets and it gives a playful feeling when they listen to a serious story. Making their own stick puppets can be an extension, too.

Extensions:

1) Making stick puppets – Children draw their pets on a piece of paper and color them. They can cut them out and glue then on the wooden sticks. They can act out some parts of the story with these puppets. If they don’t have pets, they can draw their favorite ones.

2) Play-dough activity – With play-dough, children make their own pets or their favorite pets. Teachers can ask children to name their own pets.

3) Talking about their pets with the pictures of pets – We ask parents to bring the picture of their own pets the day before the reading day. If some kids don’t have pets, pass children several pictures of pets and ask them to choose a picture from them. Children can share everyone’s pets and talk about what and how they play with pets.