Mathilda and the Orange Balloon

Mathilda and the Orange Balloon

Title: Mathilda and the Orange Balloon  

Author: Randall de Séve

Illustrator: Jen Corace

Publication Date: 2010

Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book

Summary: Mathilda, a young sheep, realizes she can be anything she wants to be despite the drab world around her if she uses her imagination.

What I Think: The illustrations make this book refreshing.  Mathilda has such a great energy.  As the school year ends and one group of students I work with has been writing about their middle school experience and looking towards their future, this book gives me hope for them.  It’s a simple, uplifting story that just emanates hope and optimism.

Read Together: 4 - 8

Read Alone: 4 - 8

Read With:

Snatch of Text: “…the bright orange balloon floated by.  It caught Mathilda’s eye while she was grazing.  Mathilda had never seen anything so magnificent.  At once, something inside her woke up.”

Reading Strategies to Practice: Making Connections, Author’s Purpose

Writing Strategies to Practice: Metaphor, Simile

Writing Prompts: Write about a dream you would like to achieve and what steps you will take to achieve that dream.  Choose a color and write a poem using similes and metaphors to describe what that color means to you.

Topics Covered: Ambition, Attitude, Hope, Dreams

Translated to Spanish: No  

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