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Friday, March 1, 2013

PPBF: The Gold Miner's Daughter


KID LIT BOOK CLUB:
Share your favorite picture book about friendship during the month of March. I'll hope you'll join the discussion!


Title: The Gold Miner's Daughter: A Melodramatic Fairy Tale
Author/IllustratorJackie Mims Hopkins; Jon Goodell
Publisher/Date: Peachtree Publishers/2006
Genre/Audience: Fiction/Ages 5+
Themes: Fairy Tales, Old West, Gold Rush, Melodrama

Opening
"Deep in the heart of gold minin' country lived a hardworking miner and his daughter. Pa and Gracie Pearl had always enjoyed gold minin', but alas, hard times had come upon them."

Synopsis: (From Amazon.com)
This hysterical collision of fairy tales, Perils of Pauline-style melodrama, and the Gold Rush West cries out for audience participation.

Why I Love This Book
The reader joins other desert critters for the afternoon matinee of this fairy tale mash-up melodrama. The participatory elements are SO fun during a read-aloud. (For example, every time you see a MUSTACHE, you get to say, "Boo, hiss".) My boys loved this because they could help me "read" the story. Hopkins cleverly weaves Goldilocks, The Three Pigs, Jack's Golden Goose, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, and Rumplestiltskin into Gracie Pearl's search for a solution to her money problems.

Resources:

What is melodrama?

Perils of Pauline film serial (1914)

Fractured Fairy Tales lesson

For more links to Perfect Picture Books, a collection of bloggers who contribute at Susanna Leonard Hill’s site, click here.

8 comments:

  1. This IS a clever book, Laura...and along the same vein as Susanna's book. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. This reminds me of the British "panto" productions we enjoyed while living in the UK. Great family fun. Who doesn't like participating in the artistic experience?

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  3. Laura, this sounds like a great book for a family read. We are all so hammy in our family I bet we'd get a fun video out of it...I'll let you know.

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  4. Laura, I love your slection today. Sounds like a hoot for kids. Thanks for including the sites on melodrama and Fractured Fairy Tales lessons -- learned some new things.

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  5. This book sounds like a lot of fun! I like the Old West theme and Fractured Fairy Tales can be kind of crazy! Thanks for sharing this one. I'll be looking for it!

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  6. Love the idea of introducing melodrama to kids through a picture book.

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  7. I love Peachtree's selections, but haven't yet read this one! Thanks for sharing! It looks like so much fun.

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  8. This sounds like such fun! As Wendy said, it's like an English Pantomime (look out, it's behind you!) or a sing-along Sound of Music. Love participatory things like this!

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