Synopses & Reviews
Lucky Hart loves Christmas. She loves making garlands and wreaths, baking spice cookies, and deciding on just the right presents for her family and friends. This Christmas, Lucky is also excited about singing in front of all the people of Cobtown. But the festivities take an unexpected turn. A lost blind man, lonely and far from home, arrives speaking "gibberish" no one understands...the pump organ breaks...a sick dog is found and Lucky and Oinkey the pig tend to him.
Saddened by these events, Lucky wonders what kind of holiday it will be. Little does she suspect that the town's annual Christmas Eve party will bring a bounty of surprises to fill her heart--and the hearts of everyone in Cobtown--with the joy, magic, and music of the Christmas season.
Teacher Guide
ABOUT THIS BOOK
History is preserved through the fictional diaries of 10-year-old Lucky Hart as she reveals the true community spirit of the small town of Cobtown, where she lives with her family in the 1840s.
Lucky Hart is excited about the upcoming holiday season in A Cobtown Christmas. She is looking forward to making decorations and gifts, baking with her family, the annual Animals' Christmas Eve party, and especially singing the Cobtown Hymn for the entire town on Christmas Day! When some unexpected events occur, Lucky, along with her family and friends, experience the true meaning of Christmas.
TEACHING IDEAS
In the Classroom
The diaries of Lucky Hart will give students a taste of life in small-town America in the 1840s. Whether they solve a mystery, celebrate the holidays, or join in the fun of an old-time Harvest Festival, students will feel a sense of community and family and the importance of preserving history. The diary format provides a personal approach to the time period and the illustrations offer a visual connection to the clothing styles, toys, furniture, and other aspects of the culture of the time. See the illustration and annotations below.
While the books are especially appealing for the social studies curriculum, they are also appropriate for language arts, science, and the arts. Students will enjoy poring over the books, either individually or in small groups, so that they can carefully study the illustrations; the stories also make great read-aloud adventure tales.
Pre-Reading Activity
The Cobtown books are set in the United States in the 1840s. Ask students to study the illustrations in the books and decide in what region of the country the stories take place. Have them support their thoughts by making reference to specific illustrations
Thematic Connections
Sense of Community (Community & Teamwork)--Ask students to define community. What makes Cobtown a community? Divide the class into three groups and assign each group a different Cobtown book to read. Then have them identify how it takes the entire community to solve the mystery in The Mystery of Mineral Gorge and to make very special events a success in Pumpkins from the Sky? and A Cobtown Christmas.
Family (Family and Relationships)--Read aloud the first page of each Cobtown book. Ask students to discuss how many generations are represented in Lucky Hart's family. Have students list the many families that reside in Cobtown. Since Lucky Hart is writing in the first person, readers can only see the various families through Lucky's eyes. Based on Lucky's diary entries, how would you describe the other families in Cobtown?
Preserving History (History)--Engage the class in a discussion about the importance of preserving history. Ask them to discuss Lucky Hart's role in preserving the history of her town. Hans Van Ripper is the town's keeper of legend and lore. How are legends related to history? Instruct students to find out if there is a written history of their town or city. Invite a local historian to speak to the class about specific events or legends that are important to their town's history
Interdisciplinary Connections
Language Arts--Tell students that Edgar Allan Poe, a famous American poet, wrote
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
Celebrate Cobtown!
Print out this illustration from A Cobtown Christmas (www.randomhouse.com/teachers/guides/gifs/CobtownGirl.pdf) and distribute to your class to identify objects from 1840s America.
In order to view the printable activities, you will need Adobe Acrobat 3.0 Reader software. You can download this software for free at www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/raedstep.html
Illustration © Robert Van Nutt
1. Costume: Ten-year-old Lucky Hart is wearing a modified version of an adult costume. She has a day dress with puffed leg o' mutton sleeves. It is worn over a petticoat and drawers. She is wearing a pelerine over her shoulders. All of her clothing, including her boots, is handmade.
2. Bonnet: In the 19th century, women never went outdoors without wearing something on their heads, and the bonnet was the most popular form of headgear. Indoors, white cloth caps were often worn by married women.
3. Inkwell and ink: By 1845, most townspeople were buying their ink in stores, but many still made their own in the old way. For brown ink they would boil down mashed walnut or butternut hulls and then add salt and vinegar to set the color. Black ink could be made by adding lampblack (soot) to this mixture.
4. Quill pen: In 1845, most writing was done with a quill pen. They were cheap and the point could be recut several times. The hardness of the point depended on the type of feather used. Pens with metal points or "nibs" could be purchased in most general stores. Pencils were also available at this time.
5. Pomander: A popular method of scenting a room or cupboard.
6. Doll: Dolls were made of a variety of materials. Their heads could be made of cloth, yarn, wax, wood, ceramic, cornhusks, nuts, or papier-mache, depending on what was available.
7. Dower or Hope Chest: These wooden chests were traditional containers for the linens and handiwork that a girl made and stored until she was married and set up her own household.
8. Banister chair: This chair was made in about 1700. Old furniture was often used in bedrooms and kitchens when it was replaced by "modern" pieces in formal parlors and dining rooms.
9. Canopied bed: This type of bed was very practical in poorly heated rooms. When the curtains were closed, the bed became a cozy little room unto itself, holding in body heat and shutting out drafts. In the summer, light gauze curtains would be used to keep out bugs (this was before the days of window screens).
10. Stencil decorations: In 1845, wallpaper was still very expensive, so stenciling was a popular way to decorate a room. The patterns were applied with brush or sponge through openings cut in oiled paper. This work was often done by traveling artists, but could also be done by the family that owned the house.
VOCABULARY
Ask students to list unfamiliar words in each book and try to define the words from the context of the stories. Words they may need to discuss in The Mystery of Mineral Gorge include horrific, villains, and lamentations. Unfamiliar words in A Cobtown Christmas may include gibberish and purity. Tempest, wrought, wrath, cauldron, and intercepted are words that students may want to think about in Pumpkins from the Sky?
REVIEWS
"A nostaligic look at a time gone by.... A generous slice of Americana." --Kirkus Reviews
"[Cobtown] has a remarkable amount of charm. Lucky's voice is artless and natural, and the action flows smoothly.... With cheery folk art-style illustrations." --Booklist
"...a rollicking plot with well-researched 19th-century detail. The flat planes and simple lines of [the] illustrations have an agreeable naive quality, and scrapbook-y touches enhance the authentic [diary] feel." --Publishers Weekly
The Mystery of Mineral Gorge
"Full-page paintings accompany each page of text, bringing the town to life with cartoonishly curved buildings and warmly exaggerated human figures. The strength of this story lies in the atmosphere created by the diary format and the cozy illustrations." --School Library Journal
FURTHER READING
Bess's Log Cabin Quilt by Anne D. Love[0-440-41197-1]
Call Me Francis Tucket by Gary Paulsen[0-440-41270-6]
Mr. Tucket by Gary Paulsen[0-440-41133-5]
Tucket's Ride by Gary Paulsen[0-440-41147-5]
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
http://www.teachingK-8.com
http://www.cr.nps.gov/
http://www.osv.org