Poppy

Poppy

By: Avi

Published by Orchard Books, 1995

Adventure, Courage, Fable, Descriptive, Intriguing  

Awards/Honors:

• Booklist, Best Books of the Year, 1995
• School Library Journal, Best Books of 1995
• New York Public Library Best Books of the Year, 1995
• Publishers Weekly, 1995, starred review
• Booklist, 1995, starred review
• ALA Notable, 1996
• Boston Globe-Horn Book Best Fiction Award, 1996
• National Christian School Association, Crown Classic, 1998
• Maryland's Children's Choice Award, 1998
• New Mexico's Children Choice Award, 1999

Summary: This is a wonderful tale that demonstrates bravery and courage. Poppy, a deer mouse and the rest of her family, live in a forest ruled by the great-horned owl, Mr. Ocax. He tells the mice that he protects them from the porcupines living amongst the forest, but at a cost. The mice must ask permission before entering his territory or they will be his dinner.

Mr. Ocax

But one night two mice sneak up to the hill without receiving Mr. Ocax's permission. Poppy escapes, but her boyfriend, Ragweed does not escape the evil owl. When Poppy's father declares that they must move to find a new home, Poppy must come face to face once again with Mr. Ocax who denies them permission to move. From this moment on the trouble begins and Poppy must face her worst fears to save her family.

Grade Level: Lexile Framework: 670L, Grade Level Equivalent: 5.8

Suggested Delivery: 4th grade read aloud

Key Vocabulary: ebony (1), savory (2), talons (3), ghastliness (8), ill-mannered ruffian (12), haven (17), careening (19), avenge (21), deputation (36), deluge (41), fra
ilty (42), calamity (52), succulent (65), effrontery (68), cannonade (83), dilapidated (109), jubilation (126), convulsively (136), ignominiously (137), roisterous (141), ossified (142)

4 Teaching Suggestions:

Poppy

1. Use this text to teach students about heroes/heroines and the characteristics one must have to be one. 
2. This text offers a number of abstract concepts related to right & wrong and good & evil. Take these many opportunities to explore these concepts and choices that each of the characters face throughout the novel.
3. Use this text as an intro to a science unit about animals. Particularly, a unit regarding prey and predators. (Owls & mice).
4. Use this text as an example of descriptive, sophisticated writing. Pick out certain paragraphs in the text to focus on with students and then have them practice their descriptive writing.

Before: Have students think of characters from popular movies, they must think of both heroes and villains. Construct a list of heroes and a list of villains. (To make this more interesting and engaging, google movie heroes/villains from children's movies to show students visuals). After listing as many heroes and villains as they can think of ask them what makes the person a hero or a villain - what qualities and characteristics do they have?

During: While reading the text aloud, ask students to pay close attention to the main character, Poppy and follow her character development throughout the story. Is she always brave? How does she overcome her fears? Also discuss if her perceptions of other characters changed during the novel and at what point.

After: Upon completion of the novel, ask students to compare Poppy with the heroes/heroines that they listed during the "Before" activity. Does she fit the definition of a hero? What about Mr. Ocax? Does he have any characteristics of a villain? Ask about all other important characters in the story. Students can do this activity in small groups and then defend which characters are heroes and which are villains. (Or assign a character to each group and state that they have to come up with 3-5 reasons of why that character is a hero or a villain). 

Author of Poppy - Avi

Writing: Write the word "misconception" on the board and have a discussion about what the word means. Keep an open discussion flowing while students share if they believe there were any misconceptions in the book. Have students write about one major misconception that occurred in the novel. Prompt them with questions such as - Why was there this big misconception? Why would someone intentionally give others a distorted perception of others? Have students make a personal connection as well. Have they ever had a misconception about someone or something? How did it change?

2 Electronic Resources:

1. Author's Webpage: This is a link to Avi's own personal page. There are several different tabs to select. One of the first tabs has a list of all of his different books listed by genre. There are several other tabs including one that offers writing tips for kids and ideas for teachers when reading his books in the classroom. 
2. Animal Diversity: Students can go to this page to research the animals in the story - Deer mice, great horned owls and porcupines. They can educate themselves about their habitat, their appearance, their diet, etc. This will be especially useful if a teacher plans to use this novel as an introduction to a science lesson/unit.