FeedBink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee; Illustrated by Tony Fucile
January 13, 2011 in Chapter Books, character education, Creative Writing activities, DiCamillo, Kate, Elementary Educators, Making Personal Connections, Personal Connections, Picture Book, Preschool to 1st grade teachers, Shared Writing, Writing Skills, Young Adult Novels Tags: Bink and Gollie, books about friendship, funny picture books, Kate DiCamillo
*Picture/chapter book, contemporary
*Two best friends, elementary-aged girls as main characters
*Rating: Super cute and clever book, Bink and Gollie will have fans young and old.
Short, short summary: Bink and Gollie are best friends, and they are about as opposite as you can get. In the three stories in this book, Bink buys a super loud pair of socks, and Gollie tries to get her to abandon them by compromising. In the second story, Gollie is on a pretend trip, climbing the Andes Mountains; and in the third story, Bink has a fish named Fred, and Gollie might be feeling a little jealous. The illustrations in this book are wonderful, and the text is written by an award-winning children’s writer and a New York Times Bestseller.
So, what do I do with this book?
1. Depending on the age of the children whom you read this story with, they can create their own Bink and Gollie adventure. They can write the text and illustrate. If you teach young children or have a young child at home, you can write the story together.
2. Bink and Gollie try to compromise in the first story, but Gollie really just wants Bink to give in. When Bink finally comes up with a compromise, what’s the difference? Ask students to give a definition of compromise. Have any of them ever compromised? What’s another way Bink and Gollie could compromise?
3. In the last story, Bink must sacrifice having Fred as her “marvelous companion” in order to save his life. Ask students what they would have done in this situation. How would they feel? Was there any other possible solution? Why do they think Gollie really did what she did?
January 14th, 2011 at 6:01 am
Oh, this sounds delightful, Margo, and I love, love Kate Dicamillo. Going to click on the link now!
January 16th, 2011 at 8:03 pm
I know, Clara. I was so happy to see Kate Dicamillo with another book!
January 17th, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Oh, we LOVE Dicamillo! I knew this was coming out but we haven’t gotten around to it, yet.