APT. 3 by Ezra Jack Keats. Macmillan, 1971.

• Discuss the harmonica as a musical instrument.
  
  http://www.bluesharp.ca/museum
  Harptown: the Virtual Harmonica Museum
  
  http://www.volcano.net/~jackmearl
  Jack's Harmonica Country
  
  
• Determine how many different types of housing there are in the United States. (Apartments, modular homes, travel trailers, boats, condominiums, row houses, single homes, etc.)
  
  http://www.yourchildlearns.com/village.htm
  Make a Village
  
  
• How do blind people accomplish daily living tasks like dressing, cooking, shopping, walking, etc.?
  
  http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NOPBC_Questions_Kids_Ask.asp
  Questions From Kids about Blindness
  
  http://www.hotbraille.com
  All about Braille

CLEMENTINA'S CACTUS by Ezra Jack Keats; Viking, 1982.

• Make sand paintings, using measuring spoons and cups to determine the correct amount of each color of sand.
  
  http://www.kinderart.com/sitemap.shtml
  Sand Painting
  
  
• Read books on various types of cacti and other succulent plants. Discuss how they differ from other plants.
  
  http://www.cybersleuth-kids.com/sleuth/Science/Plants/Cactus/index.htm
  Information on cactus
  
  
• Plant a cactus garden in the classroom that can be cared for by the students.
  
  http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/horticulture/g187.htm
  Care of Cactus in the Home
  
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/gardening_with_children/didyouknow_cacti.shtml Kids
  Gardening: Growing Cactus
  
  
• Using the desert environment as a basis, compare and contrast it to other climatic regions in the world.
  
  http://www.field-trips.org/sci/desert/index.htm
  Desert Field Trip
  
  
• Discuss the cause of rainbows.
  
  http://www.childfun.com/themes/rainbow.shtml
  Activities and crafts using the rainbow theme

DREAMS by Ezra Jack Keats; Macmillan, 1974.

• This book features some excellent examples of marbleized papers. Marbleizing is a technique perfected by Keats and used in a number of his books like John Henry, Maggie and the Pirate, and In a Spring Garden. Keats demonstrated his marbleizing technique in the video, "Ezra Jack Keats." Have students view this video in preparation for making their own marbleized paper.
  
  http://www.teachingbooks.net/spec_athr.cgi?pid=1071&a=1
  Denise Fleming's Papermaking Instructions
  
  
• Using the instructions provided, have students make marbleized paper. This requires them to measure the amounts of oil paint and water, and to determine the best ratio of colors. This paper can be used as a part of other artwork, for wrapping gifts, or for bookbinding.
  
  Recipe for Marbleized Paper
  
  
• Have students make a paper mouse like Roberto made in school. These can be made from construction paper. Require an exact size so they will have to use rulers to measure.
  
  http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals
  Animal Activities - coloring and crafts
  
  
• Talk about the science of shadows. Using a blank screen and a large flashlight, have students make shadows on the screen. Increase and decrease the distance between the light and the screen to change the size of the shadow. To duplicate the shadow that scared away the dog in the book, stand on a ladder and drop a paper mouse between the light and the screen.
  
  http://www.shadow-puppets.com/shadow-puppet-7.html
  Hand shadows

IN THE PARK: AN EXCURSION IN FOUR LANGUAGES by Esther Hautzig, ill. by Ezra Jack Keats; Macmillan, 1968.

• On a map of the world, locate the cities of New York, Paris, Moscow, and Madrid. Determine what country each of these cities is in. What language is spoken in each city? Find out interesting facts about each country.
  
  http://www.ipl.org/youth/cquest
  Internet Public Library's Culture Quest World Tour
  
  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/02/gk2/lost.html
  Lesson on reading maps and directions
  
  
• Calculate how many miles it would be from your home to each of these four cities. What forms of transportation could be used to get there? What is the latitude and longitude of each city?
  
  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/01/gk2/longlat.html
  Lessons introducing longitude and latitude

HI, CAT! by Ezra Jack Keats; Macmillan, 1970.

• Have a veternarian or a humane society representative speak to the class about the problems of stray dogs and cats.
  
  http://www.kindnews.org
  National Association for Humane and Environmental Education
  
  
• Make "Mister Big Face" paper bag masks using brown grocery bags. This can combine art with measurement and shapes.
  
  http://relache.hubpages.com/hub/kids-masks
  Making a mask

• Have a "Mister Big Face" parade. Take photographs and assemble a picture album of everyone's entry.
  
  http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/feltphoto.html
  How to make a felt photo album

JENNIE'S HAT by Ezra Jack Keats; Harper & Row, 1966.

• Make your own version of a hat like Jennie's, but fill it with an assortment of triangles, squares, circles, rectangles in a variety of colors.
  
  http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/lessons/Shapes.shtml
  A to Z Teacher Stuff: Shapes
  
  http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/elementary/index.html#geo
  Elementary Geometry Lessons
  
  
• Set up a bird feeder near the school and see how many different types of birds come to eat. Count the birds that you see each day and chart the number and kinds of birds you see. Also note the weather conditions each day to see if it affects when the birds come. With a book, identify these birds and read more about them.
  
  http://info.allaboutbirds.org/download-free-bird-songs-to-improve-your-birding
  Bird sounds
  
  http://www.birdwatching.com/tips/kids_birding.html
  A Children's Guide to Birdwatching

MY DOG IS LOST! by Ezra Jack Keats and Pat Cherr, illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats. Crowell, 1960.

• Make a list of some basic words in English and find their equivalent in Spanish, French, German, and Italian.
  
  http://www.pdictionary.com
  Internet Picture Dictionary
  
  http://www.ipl.org/youth/hello
  Say Hello to the World!
  
  
• Do some research on the various breeds of dogs. What are their similarities and differences?
  
  http://www.digitaldog.com/index.html
  Digital Dog
  
  http://www.dogbreedinfo.com
  Dog Breed Information Center
  
  http://www.couponcactus.com/resources/dog-breed-classification-for-pet-owners.html
  Dog Breed Classification for Pet Owners

PET SHOW! by Ezra Jack Keats; Macmillan, 1972.

• Count how many different children appear in this book. How many are boys? How many girls? How many times does each child appear in the whole book? How many adults are in the book? Are the children who appear in this book in any other books by Ezra Jack Keats?
  
• How many animals are in the pet show? What are they called? Can you think of any other animals that are kept as pets?
  
  http://www.avma.org/careforanimals/kidscorner/default.asp
  Care for Pets
  

PETER'S CHAIR by Ezra Jack Keats; HarperCollins, 1967.

• Take a poll to determine which students have older and younger brothers and sisters. Make a graph to show the distribution of boys and girls and their ages.
  
  http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/Graphing
  How to make graphs
  
  
• What year was this book published? How old is this book? Is the book older than you are? If so, how much older?
  
  http://www.funbrain.com/math
  Baseball games using math concepts
  
  
• Write a newspaper article about the birth of Peter's sister and his reaction.
  
  http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/hh/writeideas/articles/0,19900,634430,00.html
  Writing a news story

REGARDS TO THE MAN IN THE MOON by Ezra Jack Keats; Four Winds, 1981.

• Discuss the history of space travel conducted by agencies in the United States.
  
  http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov
  Liftoff to Space Exploration
  
  http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov
  NASA Kids
  
  
• Make a model of our solar system.
  
  http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html
  Star Child: Center for Young Astronomers
  
  
• Compare the sizes of the different planets and determine their distance from each other and from Earth.
  
  http://www.kidsastronomy.com/
  Astronomy for Kids

THE SNOWY DAY by Ezra Jack Keats; Viking, 1962.

• Imagine THE SNOWY DAY is a wordless picture book. Write your own text using the illustrations as a guide.
  
  http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit
  Scholastic's Writing with Writers
  
  
• Find out more about the four seasons. How do they differ from one another? What are the temperatures, amount of precipitation, wind speed?
  
  http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/weather/seasons/grownups.weml#teachers
  The First Day of Autumn
  
  
• Make four posters, one for each season. Decorate according to the season. List holidays that occur during that season. List outdoor activities that can take place during each season.
  
  http://www.holidays.net
  Holidays
  
  
• Study the science of weather forecasting. What types of weather are there? Why is it so hot in Mississippi and why doesn't it usually snow there?
  
  http://www.weatherwizkids.com/
  Folklore weather forecasting
  
  http://www.fi.edu/weather/todo/todo.html
  Make your own weather station

Contact:
The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection
118 College Dr., #5148
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001
(601) 266-4349
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