Zilpha Keatley Snyder's three Newbery Honor books are The Egypt Game, The Headless Cupid, and The Witches of Worm.
NOTE TO TEACHERS
Gib Rides Home, a tribute to the memory of Ms. Snyder's father, who grew up in an orphanage in Oklahoma, is written with a gentle warmth and admiration that will capture the interest of young readers from page one.
"Required to do a man 's work when he was 8 years old ... and yes, sent out into a blizzaard without his mittens, [my father] survived to become a kindhearted, patient man with an unquenchable sense of humor and an uncanny ability to communicate with horses.
-Zilpho Keatley Snyder, from Gib Rides Home
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Gibson Whitaker, an orphan since age 6, shows strength and courage as he endures harsh treatment at the orphanage during the five years it takes him to find a family that he might finally call his own.
In Gib Rides Home, 11 -year-old Gibson Whitaker has lived at the Lovell House Home for Orphaned and Abandoned Boys for five years. His life seems hopeless, since "senior" boys are almost never adopted, only farmed out to nearby ranches to perform hard labor. But when a man named Mr. Thornton appears at the orphanage and requests that Gib live with him and his family on the Rocking M Ranch, Gib believes his wishes for a real family might be coming true.
In Gib and the Gray Ghost, Gib leaves Lovell House for the second time and returns to the Rocking M Ranch, where he will once again live with the Thorntons. This time, his life on the Thornton ranch is difl'~rent. Mr. Thornton has died, and Gib is given a room in the house with the family. Is he still considered a "farm-out," or will the Thornton family adopt him?
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
Raised in California, in the country-with no television andjew movies to watch-three-time Newbery Honor winner Zilpha Keatley Snyder filled her childhood with animals, games, and books. Both of her parents spent a lot of time telling stories about their lives, so Snyder came by her storytelling instincts early. Snyder~ Newbery Honor Books include The Egypt Game, The Headless Cupid, and The Witches of Worm. Other recent works, in addition to Gib Rides Home and Gib and the Gray Ghost, are Cat Running and The Gypsy Game.
If you would like to ask Zilpha Keatley Snyder a question of your own, send her e-mail at [email protected]
TEACHING IDEAS
Pre-Readirig Activity
Gib Whitaker was born in 1900, and celebrates hi's Ilth birthday in Gib Rides Home. Have students research special events that happened in thi's 11-year span and construct a time line that documents their findings. Tell the class that the period between 1900 and 1909 was called the 'Age of Optimism.
Ask students to discuss why this period was considered an "optimistic " time.
Thematic Connections
STRENGTH/COURAGE-Ask students to discuss the meaning of courage. How does Gib show courage in each novel? How does his strength and courage influence the other boys at Lovell House? Gib's special ability to "talk" to horses is demonstrated in his work with Black Silk and Gray Ghost. How does this work take courage? How does Gib's courage affect Olivia Thornton? How does Gib's strength and courage help him deal with bullies at Longford School in Gib and the Gray Ghost?
ABANDONMENT-In Gib Rides Home, all of the boys at Lovell House have been abandoned in one way or another. Locate passages that reveal their feelings of abandonment. How is Georgie Olson abandoned a second time? Ask students to discuss how Gib might feel abandoned when Mr. Thornton takes him back to Lovell House. Discuss Gib's feelings in Gib and the Gray Ghost when he learns that Mrs. Thornton and Olivia are moving to California.
BELONGING-More than anything, Gib wants to belong to a family. How do Mr. and Mrs. Thornton and Miss Hooper treat Gib in Gib Rides Home? When does Gib begin to feel that he really belongs at the ranch? How does learning about his past help Gib gain a sense of belonging? In Gib and the Gray Ghost, Gib learns that there are "all kinds of belonging. The kind you were born with ... and the kind you worked out for yourself" (p. 230). What does Gib "work out" regarding his sense of belonging?
LOYALTY/FRIENDSHIP-Encourage students to discuss the meaning of loyalty and friendship. How does Gib try to protect the other boys at Lovell House in Gib Rides Home? How is Miss Mooney a friend to Gib? How is Hy Carter loyal to the Thorntons while being a friend to Gib? In Gib and the Gray Ghost, Gib's relationship with Olivia changes. Trace Gib and Olivia's relationship from the time they first meet to when Olivia and her mother prepare to move to California.
Interdisciplinary Connections
LANGUAGE ARTS-Neither Gib nor Hy uses correct grammar when speaking. Divide the class into small groups and ask them to identify several passages of dialogue that illustrate the speech patterns of Gib and Hy. Ask students to read aloud the dialogue, correcting the grammar as they read. How does changing the language of these two characters affect the "flavor" of the novels?
In Gib and the Gray Ghost, the students at Longford School take an elocution class. Locate a poem that Gib might choose to recite in elocution class. Using Miss Elders's rules for elocution, prepare the poem to be shared in class.
SOCIAL STUDIES-The Rev. Charles Loring Brace was the founder of the Children's Aid Society, an organization that started the orphan trains. Have students research the orphan trains and read one or more of the books in Joan Lowery Nixon's The Orphan Train Adventures series. What was the purpose of the trains? How many years did they run? How were the orphans treated?
Bethesda Home for Boys in Georgia, the oldest orphanage in the United States, opened in 1740. Today, most orphaned children are either adopted or placed with foster families. Ask students to find out when the concept of foster families began. Invite a foster mother or father to speak with the class about the rewards and difficulties of being a foster parent.
SCIENCE/HEALTH-In Gib Pides Home, Georgie Olson suffers from frostbite when Mr. Bean forces him to work in the cold without his mittens. Ask students to find out the treatment for frostbite. What could happen if frostbite isn't properly treated? What other diseases might Georgie have contracted from his exposure to extreme cold? Have the class make an illustrated brochure called "Health Hazards of Cold Weather."
CONSUMER SCIENCE-In Gib Rides Home, Mr. Thornton drives Gib back to Lovell House in his new Model T car. Ask students to find information about the original Model T (Its price in 1908 was $850.) Have them prepare a sales pitch for the car, pointing out all of its special features as well as contrasting the Model T with horse-drawn buggies.
DRAMA-L. Frank Baum published The Wizard of Oz in 1900. Although we don't know if Gib reads the novel, we do know he likes to read. In Gib Rides Home, Gib has an ability to analyze the people around him, so it is quite possible that he would connect with the characters from Oz. Suppose Lovell House performed a play based on The Wizard of Oz. Who would Gib cast in the following roles: Aunt Em, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Wicked Witch of the West? What would be Gib's Emerald City?
CAREERS-Gib has a special way with horses. Have the class brainstorm the various jobs or career opportunities related to working with horses today. Ask each student to select one of the jobs or careers from the class list. What type of training does the job require? Where might one go to get the necessary training? Approximately how much would the training cost? What kind of salary might one expect?
VOCABULARY
In Gib Rides Home, Hyram Carter, the foreman at Rocking M Ranch says to Gib, "I knowed all along that you had a good ear for horse lingo" (p. 154). Have students find words in each novel-like currycomb (p. 134) and stanchion bar (p. 117) in Gib Rides Home, and hockamore (p. 133) in Gib and the Gray Ghost-that specifically refer to horses. Ask them to identify other unfamiliar words and define them using the context of the stories.
REVIEWS
For Gib Rides Home
x"The novel delivers.... With well-drawn, complex characters and a touch of mystery, it has surefire appeal." -Starred, School Library Joumol
For Gib and the Gray Chost
"Snyder's strong characterizations, compelling Story, and rich setting details ... add up to a powerful novel." -Starred, Booklist
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ABOUT THIS GUIDE
In the classroom
Gib Rides Home and Gib and the Gray Ghost are stories of strength and courage, loyalty and friendship, the pain Of abandonment, and the strong desire to belong to a family. The descriptions of the boys' lives at Lovell House will help students grasp the treatment Of orphans in the early 1900s. Readers will gain a clear understanding of why adoption laws and child labor laws were developed in the United States.
The powerful themes, convincing characters, and strong sense of story make these books idealfor a novel study or read-aloud. This guide offers activities to connect the novels to language arts, social studies, science and health, consumer science, drama, and careers.