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A father and child spend a joyful day in the park.
PRE-READING DISCUSSION
Share the book cover. Read the title aloud. What do you think this book will be about? What do you think will happen in this story? Show back cover. Any more ideas?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
How do dads show their love?
What fun things do you do with your dad (or maybe your step-dad, older brother, grandfather, uncle)?
Let’s see if any of those things are in this book.
DISCUSSION/PARTICIPATION WHILE READING TEXT
(consider one reading straight through, then discussing
page-by-page on 2nd reading)
Child on Shoulders
Do you remember riding on your dad’s shoulder’s like this?
How did that make you feel?
Could you see better?
Do you have sisters and brothers who still ride like that?
Do you wish you still could? Why?
Slide Ride
Do you like to go down slides?
What sound do you make if you “squeal with delight”?
Everyone close their eyes, pretend to be at top of slide.
Everyone ready? Now, squeal as you imagine zooming down.
Roar Like a Bear
Does your dad like making funny noises?
What animals does he pretend to be like?
Roar like a bear.
Growl a reply.
Everyone pick an animal and make a pretend noise.
Tears and Giggles
Does someone ever try to make you laugh when you are crying, or almost crying?
Why do you think they do that?
Does your dad make funny faces?
Does he make you laugh?
Father and Child Sharing Book
What book do you think they are reading?
What book do you like to read with your dad?
Read text again, pause to have everyone -
squeak like a mouse; bark like a hound (a hound is a dog.)
Airplane
Have you ever pretended you were an airplane?
Everyone stand. Carefully spread arms out and pretend you are an airplane. Make loops (turn in place if tight quarters).
Waves and Water
Do you like the beach?
Do you giggle and shout there?
What else do you do with dad at the beach?
Last page – Warm Embrace
Why do you think the child is asleep?
Why do you think the dad is smiling?
Do you ever fall asleep in someone’s arms at the end of a long day? or in the car?
QUESTION TO PONDER
Title
Why do you think the name of the book is A Father’s Song?
Is the dad happy in this book? Why?
Do you sing when you are happy?
Re-read 2nd to last page:
I can lift you and squeeze you
and fly all day long,
to bring on your laughter,
as sweet as a song.
Maybe the child’s laughter sounds like a song to the dad because he is so happy to be spending fun time with his child.
ART
Lucy Corvino is the illustrator of this book. That means she drew and painted all the pictures.
Do you like the colors she used?
How do the colors make you feel?
(If someone says they are sunny – How does the sun make you feel? Warm and good, inside and out.)
RELATED PROJECT
Make a Father’s Day card.
For older children: Write and illustrate a story about a special day or activity with Dad. (Consider making assignment more inclusive to encompass those without a dad.)
A parent’s love is compared to wonders of nature.
PRE-READING DISCUSSION
Show the book cover. Read the title out loud. What do you think this book will be about? What makes you think that? The picture? The words in the title?
What do you call the person who writes a book?
(The author of this book is Janet Lawler.)
What do you call the person who draws the pictures?
(The illustrator of this book is Alison Jay.)
QUESTION TO CONSIDER
Did you get a kiss today? Show of hands.
If you didn’t get a kiss, make sure you tell someone you love that you need one before you go to bed. Everyone should get at least one kiss a day!
This book is about a parent’s love for a child. The author compares her love to big, beautiful, and amazing wonders of nature.
DISCUSSION/PARTICIPATION WHILE READING TEXT
(Consider one reading straight through, then discussing page-by-page on 2nd reading)
Rainbow
Have you ever seen a rainbow?
When do you see one?
Why do you think the author wrote about a rainbow?
Remember, the author is writing about her love for her child.
Pebbles/Beach
Do you like to pick up pebbles (or shells) at the beach?
When you collect pebbles, it is fun to find many of them.
Is it fun getting lots of kisses, too?
Comets
Do you know what a comet is?
A comet is made of small pieces of ice, rock and gas. A comet moves around the sun.
Do you see the tails on the comets in the pictures?
The tail of a comet is actually little bits of the comet breaking away, blown by the strong winds of the sun.
Flowers
Do you know what a bouquet is?
Do you like flowers?
Name your favorite flower.
Raindrops
Can you count raindrops?
Have you ever had raindrops kiss your face?
Acorns
Do you know what an acorn is?
An acorn is the seed of an oak tree.
What is the acorn in this picture doing?
Blow a kiss to the children.
Can you all blow a kiss to me?
Snowflakes
What season is it in this picture?
Are the animals having fun?
What are they doing?
Can you see the acorn ice skating?
Do acorns really ice skate?
Illustrators can make up things and have fun drawing pictures to go with the author’s words.
Blankets/Storm
Why do people use blankets?
Why do you think the author says kisses are like blankets?
Do you think the bunny feels safe and warm?
Do you have a favorite blanket? How does it make you feel?
Closing pages
Name the animals running across the rainbow.
What are they running toward?
What is the mother doing?
Does the baby look happy?
Why?
SUBJECT TIE-INS AND ACTIVITIES
Science
Expain how a rainbow is made.
A rainbow appears when sunlight reflects off millions of droplets of water in the air, usually after a rainstorm.
The colors of a rainbow are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo (dark blue), and purple. The light passing through the water droplets gets bent and separated at different angles so you can see each of these colors.
Share additional information about comets. Halley’s Comet takes 76 years to make one circle (orbit) around the sun. It was seen from Earth in 1986. It will not be seen again until 2061. How old will you be in 2061? (Teacher can help with this one!)
Language Arts
The author compares kisses to other things, like pebbles, comets, etc.
This way of using a word in place of another, to show how they are alike, is called a metaphor.
Try to make up another kisses metaphor:
If kisses were cars, you would have a million mile traffic jam…
(this may be too difficult for the youngest audiences. You can help by making up the first part and seeing if the children can make up a logical ending.)
Art
Ask students if they like the pictures.
Ask if they noticed the “cracks” in the pictures. Explain that artists have different ways of drawing, painting, and making pictures.
Alison Jay uses a crackle glaze. After she paints the picture, she puts a finish on top to make it looked cracked and old. But it really isn’t old, it just looks that way. You can recognize her art in other books. (You can get several others from the library to show.)
Download a rainbow template from: http://www.coloringcastle.com/rainbow_coloring_pages.html
Download a PDF version of this Guide (printer friendly).
Download a PDF version of this Guide (printer friendly).
