1. “Band-aid Stories”
Second graders at Weber Elementary School in Iowa City, Iowa wrote their own tales of woe (and how they survived to tell the tale) in a band-aid shaped folder made from an 8-1/2 x 11" piece of paper with simple band-aid markings copied onto it, then folded vertically in half. And of course decorated the outsides.
2. For younger children, The Great Lakes Children’s Museum in Traverse City paired this book with a stuffed cat that looked a lot like Frank, who resided in a basket along with a variety of bandaging materials and a “cone.”
3. “Animal Expressions”
When illustrators draws pictures for a book, they pay attention to the expressions on the faces of the characters. Usually this means more than a “happy face” or a “sad face.” Have kids partner up and cover the bottom half of their faces while they look happy, look sad, look mean, look interested. Can we tell what someone is feeling just by their eyes? How?
In The Broken Cat, we can usually tell how Frank is feeling even though he doesn’t have a human face. How do our pets tell us how they are feeling? Kids will have lots of their own ideas and observations about this.
To find out more about dogs' body language, click here. If you're interested in cats and their body language, click here. Following the links for "communication" and then scroll down to "Reading your Cat's Body Language."
I haven’t actually tried this with children yet, but I think they might like trying to draw pictures of pets with these different descriptions of how they show their feelings. For example, “When your cat expands his body, fluffing up, he is showing both confidence and aggression. If the cat’s legs are fully stretched, he is assured and prepared to attack.” Or “Should the dog be feeling both excited and wary, a ridge of fur may rise up on his shoulders or down his spine. This is known as ‘getting his hackles up.’”