FeedTuesday Tales: Tyrannoclaus by Janet Lawler;Illustrations by John Shroades
December 8, 2009 in Art activities, Creative Writing activities, Elementary Educators, Lawler Janet, Picture Book, Preschool to 1st grade teachers, Reading Skills, Shared Writing, Shroades John, Tuesday Tales, Writing Skills Tags: children's Christmas books, holiday writing activities, Janet Lawler, John Shroades, The Night Before Christmas, Tyrannoclaus
Children’s Christmas books are one of the best parts of the holiday season, in my humble opinion. More and more cute ones come out every year, and Tyrannoclaus by Janet Lawler with illustrations by John Shroades is no exception. Read on to find out about one of the cutest children’s Christmas books that you’ll want to share with your family! The illustrations–darling; the text–WOW!
*Picture book for preschoolers through third graders (But adults, you’ll love it!)
*Tyrannoclaus as the main character
*Rating: Tyrannoclaus is a children’s Christmas book like no other–quite a take on The Night Before Christmas!
Short, short summary: “‘Twas the night before Christmas in dinosaur land. Tyrannoclaus hurried, his helpers at hand.” So, starts the adventures of Tyrannoclaus on the most important night of the year. One small problem is that his workshop is located in a volcano. Oh, and one of his “elf” helpers, a herbivore, enjoyed nibbling Tyrannoclaus’s list of good dino-girls and dino-boys. With a sleigh led by dinosaurs Raptor, Rexy, Mimus and Saurus, Tyrannoclaus flies from the volcano and manages to deliver his presents to all the dinosaurs with a taped list. This will surely be one of the favorite children’s Christmas books this holiday season.
So, what do I do with this book?
1. Read The Night Before Christmas to your children or your students. Create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast these two children’s Christmas books. Tyrannoclaus by Janet Lawler has a few similarities, although you will have quite a bit of contrasts in your Venn diagram.
2. Do an elementary art activity with this book. Take time to study John Shroades’s illustrations. They are bright and colorful and detailed. Give your students some paints and ask them to make an illustration of a dinosaur with his perfect holiday gift in the style of John Shroades. If you want to add a writing activity, the students could write a letter to Tyrannoclaus from the dinosaur in their drawings. These would make a great holiday display.
3. This is a book full of problems for Tyrannoclaus. It is a great book to talk about problems and solutions in stories. You can have a class discussion or discuss it one-on-one with your child. Ask: “What is the first problem Tyrannoclaus has on Christmas Eve? How does he solve this problem? Is it a good solution?” and so on.
What is one of your favorite children’s Christmas books? Do you have another version of The Night Before Christmas that you love?
