Hooway For Wodney Wat

Hooway For Wodney Wat by Helen Luster is a heartwarming story that will touch your heart. Rodney Rat is a small rodent who cannot pronounce his r's, so he is known as Wodeny Wat. All of the other rodents in his class constantly tease him.  Because of his classmates teasing, Wodney Wat is very shy. He does not like to speak up in class and often tucks his head into his shirt.

One day a big, mean and smart bully named Camilla Capybara comes to school.  All of the kids are afraid of her.  Poor, shy Wodney Wat saves the day and the class is forever grateful!

This is such a great story to share with your chid as they start back-to-school.  It is a great reminder that we are all different and are differences should be appreciated.  This book is full of opportunities to make text-to-self connections.  At some point, everyone has been the odd man out.  Wodney gives readers an opportunity to relate their experiences to his experience.  It is also an excellent book to practice inferring.  The readers has to use background knowledge plus clues in the text to understand Wodney's feelings.  

Some questions to guide your thinking conversation:

1.  Read to "Wodney replied miserably" and ask your child:  How do you think Wodney feels?  Why do you think the other kids pick on him? Have you been teased before?  How did you feel?

2.  Read to "Was she smarter than any of them" and ask your child: Camilla is a bully. How do you think the kids feel about her?  Have you ever met a bully before?  How did you feel?

3.  Read to " Capybara was the first on the playground, having trampled the others in her path" and ask your child:  How would you feel if you were Wodney?  What do you predict is going to happen?

4. Read to "The other rodents began to smile" and ask your child:  Why are the other kids smiling?  Why did Camilla pull up the weeds?  

5. Read to" By now Wodney's voice was stronger and his head was entirely out of his jacket" and ask your child:  How do you think Wodney is feeling?  Why do you think this?  

6. Read to the end of the story and ask your child:  What lesson do you think the kids in Wodney's class learned?  What lesson did you learn?