Mesa City Councilmember Jennifer Duff – a longtime i.d.e.a. Museum supporter and former chair of our foundation board – reads today’s story to our museum members and visitors while we remain closed.
She likes cats and selected Puss in Boots. This is a story in the public domain and is considered a fairytale, which tend to be shared in an oral storytelling tradition over time. These stories have a lesson, which can be used as conversation starters after you finish listening to the story.
The version of the story Councilmember Duff reads is from Macmillan, which is allowing noncommercial use of its books for story times due to COVID-19 until Aug. 31.
You can read a public domain version of Puss in Boots by clicking here.
Getting started
We suggest you start storytime with a few questions. Some suggestions:
- Based on the title, what do you think this is about?
- What clues about the story are there in the illustration on the book cover?
- What kinds of problems do you think will need to be solved?
- What do you know about the book’s topic?
- Have you heard other stories like this one? Which ones?
During story time, you can stop the video (or story) to ask more questions, such as:
- What do you think will happen next?
- What predictions do you have? For example: How do you think the characters will solve the problem they face? How will this end?
- Do you think you would do the same thing, if you were the main character (or the friend)? What would you do differently?
- How would you describe the story’s characters?
Finally, after finishing the story, you might ask:
- Do you think the title fits the story? Why/why not?
- Were you predictions about the story correct? For example: Were the problems solved like you thought?
- How do you think the story would be different if told by another character’s point of view?
- Did the characters change in the story? How?
- Why do you think the author wrote this?
- What’s your favorite part?
- Does the story remind you of something?
- What would you change about the story?
More fun
Consider doing some extra activities based on the book you’ve read or heard. For example, with Puss in Boots, you might research cats online or look up some cat art projects.