ABout the book ONCE UPON A TIME -...
4
Art © 2012 by Mo Willems. Permission to reproduce and distribute this page has been granted by the copyright holder, HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. www.GoMo.net ABout the book O NCE UPON A TIME , there were three hungry Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur . . . and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway. One day—for no particular reason—they decided to tidy up their house, make the beds, and prepare pudding of varying temperatures. And then—for no particular reason—they decided to go . . . someplace else. They were definitely NOT setting a trap for some succulent, unsupervised little girl. Definitely not! Everything’s Better with Mo! Mo Willems is a three-time Caldecott Honor-winning dinosaur for Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity. He also won two Geisel medals for There Is a Bird On Your Head! and Are You Ready to Play Outside? as well as a Geisel Honor for I Broke My Trunk! His books are perennial New York Times bestsellers, including the Cat the Cat series, Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion, and Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator! Before making picture books, Mo was a writer and animator on Sesame Street, where he won six Emmy awards. Mo lives happily ever after with his family in Massachusetts. « « A Note for Grown-ups The following activity suggestions are for kids to do as a class or individually. Some can be done in the classroom or library, some are best done at home, and others can be done anywhere. Dinosaurs make everything better no matter where you are!
Transcript of ABout the book ONCE UPON A TIME -...
Art © 2012 by Mo Willems. Permission to reproduce and distribute this page has been granted by the copyright holder, HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
www.GoMo.net
ABout the book
ONCE UPON A TIME, there were three hungry Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur . . . and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway.
One day—for no particular reason—they decided to tidy up their house, make the beds, and prepare pudding of varying temperatures. And then—for no particular reason—they decided to go . . . someplace else. They were definitely NOT setting a trap for some succulent, unsupervised little girl.
Definitely not!
Everything’s Better with Mo!Mo Willems is a three-time Caldecott Honor-winning dinosaur for Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity. He also won two Geisel medals for There Is a Bird On Your Head! and Are You Ready to Play Outside? as well as a Geisel Honor for I Broke My Trunk! His books are perennial New York Times bestsellers, including the Cat the Cat series, Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion, and Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator! Before making picture books, Mo was a writer and animator on Sesame Street, where he won six Emmy awards. Mo lives happily ever after with his family in Massachusetts.
««
A Note for Grown-upsThe following activity suggestions are for kids to do as a class or individually. Some can be done in the classroom or library, some are best done at home, and others can be done anywhere. Dinosaurs make everything better no matter where you are!
Here Comes the sun DinosaurTeachers/Parents: Play a classic song and have kids replace one word in the refrain with “dinosaur.” Have a sing-along, and ask kids to show off their finest dinosaur dances. For example, the lyrics to the song “Shout” can be modified to “You know you make me want to DINOSAUR!,” while the lyrics “Here Comes the Sun” could become “Here comes the DINOSAUR.”
Pretend-a-saurusHow many different kinds of dinosaurs can you think of? Make a list of all the ones you know. Then make up your own dinosaurs! Think about what they’d look like, and come up with names and characteristics for them. (A Mosaurus would write and illustrate funny books, of course!)
My Prehistoric Family
Dinosaurs really do make everything better! Draw a picture of your family as dinosaurs. Is your mom a brontosaurus with big hair
and a pocketbook? Or maybe your grandfather is a
pterodactyl with glasses and a sweater-vest. Share with your friends or your class what your
dinosaur family looks like!
Art © 2012 by Mo Willems. Permission to reproduce and distribute this page has been granted by the copyright holder, HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
www.GoMo.net
Everything’s better with dinosaurs!
Dino TalesYour favorite stories plus dinosaurs—what could be better? Think of as many stories as you can and then rename them with the word “dinosaur” in the title. Here are
some examples: Hansel and Dinosaurs, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Dinosaurs, Snow White and the Seven Dinosaurs, Little Red Riding Dinosaur. How many can you think of?
We’re Going on
a Dino HuntThe Pigeon hides in Mo’s books waiting to be found,
because finding things is fun! Collect ten dinosaur toys or
figurines, and hide them around your classroom,
library, or home. Then organize a dinosaur hunt!
set a (Large) TrapThe dinosaurs in the book set a trap for Goldilocks. Use your imagination to set a trap for a dinosaur (he or she can be your pet!). What would attract a dinosaur? A giant bowl of pudding, perhaps? How would you catch a dinosaur and get him or her home? Once you got the dinosaur home, where would he or she sleep?
Art © 2012 by Mo Willems. Permission to reproduce and distribute this page has been granted by the copyright holder, HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
www.GoMo.net
Everything’s Better with surprises!
Chocolate surpriseTeachers: Surprise your students by bringing in some chocolate pudding or delicious chocolate-filled-little-girl-bonbons (cookies with chocolate candies in the middle) as a treat!
Everything’s Better with a Twist Teachers: Have your class choose a fairytale (either by coming up with a list and voting
or asking each student to come up with his or her own). Then ask each student to write a surprise ending! Hold a story circle where students can share their endings with the class.
Art © 2012 by Mo Willems. Permission to reproduce and distribute this page has been granted by the copyright holder, HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
www.GoMo.net
Everything’s better with jokes!
Home sweet Dinosaur HomeGoldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs is filled with dinosaur jokes, including funny items dinosaurs might have in their houses (the extra-long phone, the tall chairs with
dino feet, etc.). Draw your own picture of how you think a dinosaur household would look.
What would they have in the kitchen? What would hang on
the walls?
Why Did the Dinosaur Cross the Road?Teachers: Have each student write his or her own “Why Did the Dinosaur Cross the Road?” joke. For example: Why did the Dinosaur Cross the Road? Because there was a delicious chocolate-filled-little-girl-bonbon on the other side! Combine them all into a class joke book.
Goldilocks and the Three What ?
Choose one of the crossed-out titles from the book’s endpapers and draw a picture or a series
of pictures to illustrate it. Be sure to include plenty of visual jokes like Mo uses in the book!
] ««
Extinction? I Laugh at Extinction!Demonstrate your best dinosaur laugh. With your friends, come up with dinosaur laughs for different situations—an evil dinosaur laugh, a dinosaur laughing at a joke, a dinosaur laughing so hard that pudding comes out of his nose, etc.
