Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

What was daily life like for the general populace in and near London during World War II?

Teaching Suggestion: The setting of the novel is London and the surrounding areas during World War II; learning more about the time and place can help students access the novel more fully. David’s family moves from London to the countryside within a year after the death of his mother. Though the countryside is safer from the bombing the city of London experiences, a plane crashing within close proximity to their new home signals that risks still exist for David and his family. Exploring these resources through annotating, journaling, or discussing would provide students with opportunities to build their background knowledge and understand the world David inhabits.

• This resource from the Imperial War Museums includes background and images about London during World War II and additional links for research.
• This article from Defense Media Network explores the evacuation of children to the English countryside during the war.
• This post from Historic England features photos and images pertinent to the setting of the novel.

Short Activity

Sketch a scene from a fairy tale that is familiar to you. Include as many details as you can.

Teaching Suggestion: Since the novel incorporates elements of multiple fairy tales, calling some to mind before reading may help students make connections as they read. This activity might be a quick sketch, or it might develop into a longer project. Students might draw the scene in the form of graphic panels, a collage, or another format. If students share their work, the class will benefit from the review of multiple fairy tales. Students might display their work in the classroom, creating a fairy tale collage. As the class reads the novel, discussion on the tales’ similarities and differences will serve as an additional opportunity to make connections and conduct literary analysis.

• “Conventions of Fairy Tales” from Missouri Southern State University presents an overview of key similarities many fairy tales share.
• This resource from Reader’s Digest provides a list with summaries for some of the most popular fairy tales, several of which feature in the novel.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

What are the best and worst things about growing up?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt offers an opportunity for students to begin reflecting on the theme of The Benefits and Losses of Growing Up. Students might write different pros and cons on individual sticky-notes, then post them in different sections of the classroom for others to view and post a response. This prompt could also be approached as a list-sort-label, with students listing aspects of growing up, categorizing them, then labeling each category.

Differentiation Suggestion: To encourage agency and meet different learning styles, students could be encouraged to respond to the prompt in a variety of forms, including poetry, drawing, painting, musical composition, skit performance, or journaling.