Sneezenesia

Title: Sneezenesia 
Author: Deb Lucke
Illustrator: Deb Lucke  
Publisher: Clarion Books
Publication Date: 2010   
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book  
Summary: A boy suffers from sneezenesia when he sneezes so hard all his memories fly out of his nose!
What I Think: It's sad to say this book caught my attention because I am one of the sneeziest people.  My husband is forever teasing me because I sneeze all the time.  I am allergic to so many things and I've gotten used to my sneezing.  I don't let it bother me, but when I saw this one I knew it was a book I had to read.
   It took me a few times to figure out how to even pronounce the title of the book, I had to keep reminding myself that it sounded like the end of amnesia.  I love playing with words and just the title lends itself to a discussion with students about word parts and making new words with those word parts. I also like how this could be used to get some brainstorming going around the idea of "What if?"
     This book reminds me of The Incredible Book-Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers.  Both can get some good discussions going and I would recommend both for kiddos who are a little older.  I read both of these with Peanut and while he listened to the story I don't think he quite got the full gist of either of them.
Read Together: 1 - 6 
Read Alone: 3 - 6 
Read With: The Incredible Book-Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers,  A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon, What If? by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Snatch of Text: 

"He sneezed so hard, he

blew down aisle three and when

he got up he no longer knew

where he was or how he had gotten there.

Again and again his nose

wrinkled up and went

'Achoo!'

Out came an eight, then a six, then a two...

...followed by Squanto teaching

the Pilgrims how to plant corn...

...and an entire hanky's worth of presidents."

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Visualizing 
Writing Strategies to Practice: Word Analysis, Word Play, What If?, Narrative
Writing Prompts: Brainstorm your own "What if?" ideas, then choose one to write a story about. 
Topics Covered: Amnesia/Memory, Knowledge 
Translated to Spanish: No