Book Title: King Midas
Illustrator/Photographer/Artist: Demi
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Copyright Date: 2002
Genre: Myth
Brief Annotation: This myth tells the tale of greedy King Midas who shuns the Greek Gods and their wisdom, only to appear more a fool when he is given the ears of a Donkey at the hand of Apollo after King Midas wrongs him. When King Midas returns something of value to the Gods, they grant him any wish. He foolishly wishes for everything he touches to turn to gold, but finds this act of greed makes everything impossible, from hugging friends to eating food. He must appeal to the Gods to reverse this hasty act of greed.
Your Rating (1-5) and why: 4: Though there was a bit of superfluous information in the story, the message of humility and selfishness is a good one to send to kids.
Readers who will like this book: Those studying Greek mythology would probably enjoy the silly tale of King Midas.
Teaching Strategy from Tompkins or Yopp & Yopp (you'll link a strategy to at least 10 of your 40 books) : Clusters (Tompkins, p. 21): Clusters are a fun way to do word-association with a tale, especially a myth, with younger students. Our center of the cluster could be King Midas and our rays out from the center could be different things we think of when we talk about King Midas and his tale. Kids might say that he is selfish (or other aspects of his personality), that he helped the Gods (another sub-topic to branch off), etc. This visual organizer can help unpack the story a little bit more as we talk about the different themes and topics present.
Teaching Strategy from Tompkins or Yopp & Yopp (you'll link a strategy to at least 10 of your 40 books) : Clusters (Tompkins, p. 21): Clusters are a fun way to do word-association with a tale, especially a myth, with younger students. Our center of the cluster could be King Midas and our rays out from the center could be different things we think of when we talk about King Midas and his tale. Kids might say that he is selfish (or other aspects of his personality), that he helped the Gods (another sub-topic to branch off), etc. This visual organizer can help unpack the story a little bit more as we talk about the different themes and topics present.
Question to ask about this book before a read aloud: If you were given any wish to be granted, what would you wish for? Something for yourself? For others? What would the "best" type of wish be?
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