The Little Red Pen

Has your child ever wondered what goes on in their classroom during the night?  I know I thought about it as a kid.  I thought my teacher lived in my classroom!  The Little Red Pen by Janet Stevens is a story about classroom supplies and their nightly adventures.  Papers need graded, but only Little Red Pen is willing to do any work.  All the other supplies have an excuse as to why they cannot help the Little Red Pen.  However, the Little Red Pen finds herself in some deep trouble.  Read the story to see if they other supplies help her out!

On top of this just being a cute story, it is a GREAT book to read if your child has been studying personification. Personification is giving human traits to non-living objects. As you read the story with your child point out a few times the author uses personification (personally, I love the eraser).   After reading the story with your child you can practice personification!  Grab an object and brainstorm ways to give it human traits.  How could you personify the refrigerator?  The couch?  Their are endless possibilities.  If you lead with an example, your child will want to keep personifying objects because they will find it fun!  

If you are a teacher, this is a great story to convert into a Readers' Theater Script!  Each character's dialogue is written in a different color!