Learning from Fiction: The Cats of Roxville Station

My new interest, cats, has led us to a new book by Newbery Award-winning author, Jean Craighead George. This author is a naturalist who is famous for her books, My Side of The Mountain and Julie of the Wolves. Her great gift is that she can weave into an exciting story with appealing characters so much information about nature.

This story is about a community of feral (stray) cats and a lonely adolescent boy who is an orphaned foster child.

Not only are we learning about feral cats, how they survive, how they communicate and how much like domestic cats they really are, we are learning about butterflies, raccoons, foxes, hawks, snakes and a wide range of human beings!

As we go along, we stop and discuss the facts the author incorporates into the story. In fact, we are sharing this information in the hall. The kids are taking turns writing a statement of nature facts as they come up and then we publish them for others to read as they pass in the hall.

I want my students to know that fiction is entertaining, but it also a whole lot more and those who read, read, read, get smarter and smarter!!!

This is the best reason of all for parents to read to their kids forever!

Mary Ann