Fablehaven

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

ACTIVITY 1: “Caretaker's Guide”

In this activity, students will use their knowledge of folklore allusions and the role of boundaries in the novel to create their own magical preserve, making connections to The Importance of Rules and When to Follow Them and The Importance of Place and Boundary.

The novel is populated by many kinds of magical creatures, all drawn from fairy tales, folklore, and mythology. In the novel, these creatures reside on one preserve. In this activity, research other kinds of magical creatures and create your own preserve for them. Compile information about your preserve in a “guidebook” that contains information about the preserve, its residents, and its rules.

• Decide how you will compile your guidebook. You might choose to write separate pages and collect them in a binder, create a poster or a slideshow presentation, or create a model or interactive digital rendering.
• Choose at least 3 kinds of creatures to live on your preserve. You may use inspiration from folklore or mythology, or you may create your own original creatures.
• Research each creature to answer the following questions: What kinds of qualities are associated with your creature? Are they good or evil? How do they typically interact with humans?
• What kind of environment does your preserve have? Is it in a forest, like Fablehaven? Or does the landscape and geography differ in some way?
• Establish the rules for your preserve. Do the creatures have free reign? What special traditions or celebrations occur on your preserve? What happens if you break a rule?
• How does magic work on your preserve?
• Draw a map of your preserve and mark the important boundaries and landmarks. Make sure you have at least 3 separate areas.
• Create a name for your preserve.
• Present your preserve to your class, noting the creatures and most important guidelines for operating the preserve.

Teaching Suggestion: As an additional closure activity, students may engage in a class-wide discussion reflecting on how the rules and boundaries they established for their preserves play an important role in structuring how their preserves work. They can connect and discuss their created preserve to the role of rules and boundaries in the novel, how those ideas work to structure plot and character arcs, and how the associated themes are developed.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who might benefit from a more concrete assignment, this activity may be adapted as a research project on a creature found in the text. Students may select one kind of creature, research its folkloric origin, and write a short essay or create a short presentation about it. More advanced students might be asked to submit a written defense of their choices in creating their preserve with explicit connections back to themes in the text.

This activity can also be completed as partner work. Students who benefit from alternatives to public speaking may have the option of submitting a written ‘presentation’ instead or presenting with a partner.

ACTIVITY 2: “Dear Future Caretakers”

In this activity, students will assume the persona of caretaker of Fablehaven and give instructions to Kendra and Seth, who will inherit the preserve one day. This activity will give students the opportunity to reflect on folkloric and mythology allusions.

Although Fablehaven contains many wonders, it is also a place of great danger. As caretaker, Grandpa Sorenson says it is his responsibility to obey the treaty of mutual respect and regulate the actions of everyone he brings to the preserve. It takes a special kind of person to be caretaker, and he hopes that one day Kendra and Seth will take up that role. In this activity, write a letter to Kendra and Seth preparing them for this eventuality.

• In a letter of at least 1 page, instruct Kendra and Seth on what they will need to do to run the preserve successfully.
• In your letter, discuss the most potentially problematic creatures Kendra and Seth will find in Fablehaven and how they should interact with them. What are these creatures like? What abilities do they have? What kind of legend or myth do they come from? Choose at least 3 creatures from the text and incorporate textual details to support your response.
• Also discuss the important boundaries and places in Fablehaven. Where should Kendra and Seth be careful to avoid? What will happen if they do not?
• What are the major rules Kendra and Seth should follow? Why is it important that they follow them?
• In a separate journal entry, reflect on the connections between the instructions you gave Kendra and Seth and their character arcs in the novel. What lessons did each character have to learn in order to save the preserve? How can assuming responsibility in the magical world be an analogy for the responsibilities young people must assume in real life as they grow up?

Teaching Suggestion: Students should incorporate textual details throughout the assignment to maximize their engagement with the text. It may also be beneficial to review notes about themes and allusions found in the text before beginning the activity to better inform their writing process.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students who benefit from offered writing strategies and support may utilize sentence starters or a shortened assignment length; for example, they may be asked to address only one of the bullet points above in their letter, or to craft a letter of only 1-2 paragraphs instead of a full page. This activity may also be completed with a partner or in an alternative format; students may stage their instructions as a dramatic scene using dialogue to create a conversation between themselves as “caretaker” and Kendra and Seth, or they might write a speech addressing the protagonists. Visual learners might utilize a slideshow or other visual aid to highlight the important aspects of running Fablehaven. 

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. In the novel, Kendra and Seth demonstrate different reaction toward Grandpa’s rules.

• How are Kendra and Seth foils for one another in the novel regarding rule-following and rule-breaking? (topic sentence)
• How does each character display caution and courage? What does Seth ultimately learn about rules? What does Kendra learn about rules? Refer to story details as you analyze these points in support of your topic sentence.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, connect the foil between Seth and Kendra with the theme of The Importance of Rules and When to Follow Them in the novel.

2. Boundaries and confinement are prominent motifs in the novel.

• What overall message about boundaries and confinement is communicated by the novel? (topic sentence)
• What kinds of boundaries are present in the novel? Who are the characters who are confined, and what is the nature of their confinement? Refer to story details as you analyze these points in support of your topic sentence.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how these motifs support one or more themes in the novel.

3. Set and Kendra are fascinated by the creatures found in Fablehaven.

• How does the author use allusions to mythology or folklore to build the magical world in the novel? (topic sentence)
• Select the 3 creatures most strongly representative of myth or folklore in the novel. How are they characterized? How has the author altered or maintained their traditional characterizations in mythology or folklore? Use direct quotes and text details to support your discussion.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, discuss the author’s choices and why he might have chosen to depict his magical creatures this way.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. In traditional fairy tales, the forest is often a symbol of both danger and adventure. What challenges do the two protagonists face there? How does the author use the setting to catalyze internal and external conflicts for the characters? How does Fablehaven represent a place of growth for Kendra and Seth? In a 3- or 5-paragraph essay, analyze the forest in the novel and evaluate its effectiveness as a setting in terms of conflict and potential for character growth.

2. Consider Grandpa’s statement that the creatures in the preserve have different ideas of morality than humans do. How does the author demonstrate that creatures like the naiads and the fairies have different conceptualizations of cruelty and harm than humans do? What does this imply about morality, and the division between humans and magical creatures? In a 3- or 5-paragraph essay, analyze and discuss the ways in which morality is explored in the novel. What key message or messages are conveyed? Support your ideas with details and examples from the story.

3. Who are the major female characters in the novel? What qualities denote a female character as “good”? What qualities denote her as “evil”? How do the depictions of the various female characters in the novel connect to feminine archetypes often found in traditional fairy tales? In a 5-paragraph essay, examine the role gender plays in the novel by analyzing the way female characters, human and magical, are described. Include direct quotes and examples to support your claims.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following word pairs describe Kendra and Seth, respectively?

A) Cautious yet responsible; reckless yet courageous

B) Empathetic and imaginative; insensitive and stingy

C) Curious and driven; reflective and hesitant

D) Intelligent yet vain; adventurous yet deceptive

2. Which of the following statements best describes the central conflict of the novel?

A) Kendra and Seth must cope with their parents’ absence and bond with their estranged grandparents.

B) Kendra and Seth must locate the locks to three individual keys and use them to discover the secrets of a magical world.

C) Kendra and Seth must face temptation and maintain their resolve to preserve the protections that guard them from evil creatures.

D) Kendra and Seth must overcome danger in a magical world to rescue their grandparents and prevent destruction.

3. Which of the following best identifies a character’s internal conflict in the novel?

A) Muriel resists the magic that confines her to her shack.

B) Grandma Sorenson struggles to communicate in chicken form.

C) Kendra must find a way to defeat Bahumat to rescue her family.

D) Seth grapples with guilt and remorse after his actions on Midsummer Eve.

4. Which of the following settings is the strongest example of The Importance of Place and Boundary in the novel?

A) The Forgotten Chapel

B) Muriel’s shack

C) Fablehaven

D) The attic playroom

5. Which of the following is the weakest symbol in the novel?

A) The enchanted milk

B) The handheld mirror

C) Muriel’s knots

D) The Fairy Queen’s shrine

6. Which of the following is not an example of the Subjectivity of Perception in the novel?

A)  Lena explains that naiads perceive death and mortality differently than humans do.

B) Kendra and Seth’s perception of the world around them changes after they drink the milk.

C) Grandma responds to her surroundings differently when she is a chicken.

D) Seth is transformed into a walrus after causing a fairy to fall.

7. What is the purpose of the motif of confinement and boundaries in the novel?

A) It suggests the importance of rule-following.

B) It supports the theme of The Importance of Place.

C) It motivates conflict between protagonists and antagonists.

D) It governs the laws of the novel’s fictional world.

8. Which of the following does not accurately pair two characters with their role in the novel?

A) Kendra and Seth: protagonists

B) Muriel and Bahumat: antagonists

C) The fairies and the Fairy Queen: supernatural aid

D) Newel and Doren: sidekicks

9. Which of the following statements best describes how Kendra and Seth foil one another in the novel?

A) Seth’s indifference highlights Kendra’s passion, reinforcing the idea that one must be involved in their surroundings.

B) Seth’s ready belief highlights Kendra’s initial skepticism, reinforcing the idea that one’s perceptions are subjective.

C) Seth’s recklessness highlights Kendra’s caution, reinforcing the idea that one must know when to obey rules and when to break them.

D) Seth’s arrogance highlights Kendra’s humility, reinforcing the idea that one must treat their surroundings with respect.

10. Which of the following best identifies the climax of the novel?

A) Grandpa and Lena are captured by Muriel.

B) The Fairy Queen grants Kendra aid.

C) Kendra’s fairy army defeats Bahumat at the Forgotten Chapel.

D) Kendra gains new abilities in the aftermath of the battle.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How does the setting of the novel (the forest/Fablehaven) function as a symbol in the novel?

2. Describe Kendra’s character arc throughout the novel. What are the ultimate lessons she learns about breaking rules? What are the important events in her development?