Rascal by Sterling North

Summary: In Rascal, Sterling North recalls the year he was 11 (1918) and his pet raccoon, Rascal. His dad travels a good deal, his mother is dead, his sisters are grown and living elsewhere, and his brother is off fighting in World War I. Thus, the boy is often left to his own devices and wanders freely in his small town and in the surrounding countryside. Rascal goes virtually everywhere Sterling goes, from his bed at night to the county fair. ISBN: 0140344454

NEWBERY Honor 1964

Reading Level- ages 9-12

Rascal is one of the best known and most loved animal tales in American literature. Many readers, including me, have been charmed by the antics of this intelligent, interesting raccoon, the simpler, safer life of his resourceful owner and the bond between the two.

Unfortunately, the story does have some areas of real concern for parents. The author, in dealing with the pain of his mother's death, apparently found the offerings of the church inadequate and the area preacher hypocritical, unable to address real needs and/or boring; a viewpoint that shows up in several incidents in the book. I am a firm believer in honest questioning and teaching our children to work through issues like these, at an appropriate level of maturity. That level will, in my opinion, often be at a later stage than the level reader for whom this book is usually recommended.

The brief evolutionary content will be of concern to some; it reflects a common view of church people in that era, i.e. that intelligent, scientific people don't believe the creation story in the Bible is literally true and that evolution is clearly a fact and is simply how God created the world. Primitive people were not ready for that explanation; hence the simple narrative in Genesis.

The permissive and often absent dreamer of a father, the death of a mother and the boy's subsequent dealings with that loss, the fears for a brother fighting in war and death of some boys from the town are readiness issues for parents to also consider.

Overall, there is much to enjoy in Rascal and a lot to learn, too. Most children, especially boys, will enjoy Sterling's exploits from building his own canoe to rambles in the countryside on his own, and the bond between the boy and his raccoon. Sterling's character inspires readers to resourcefulness and responsibility. For a mature child ready to deal with the aforementioned issues, this well-written book is a memorable read.

Taken from: http://bookangles.com/Rascal/tabid/220/Default.aspx My Notes

This book is targeted at a younger age group, yet I would advise that you do not use it with the lower grades. My 6th graders had a hard time understanding the vocabulary and terminology of the era. I spent a lot of time building background with them and showing them examples of the things from that time period. It also has a lexile of 1080, which is something to keep in mind.

Some issues to be aware of is that, as noted above, it questions the presence of God. It also deals with the death of his mother, which may be hard for some students. Further, it discusses World War I.

I have to say I enjoyed the book, but my 6th grade on level and level one did not really seem to care for the book. I am happy I selected it, though, because it exposed them to a different way of life and style of writing than they were normally accustomed to. Glossary of Difficult Words affluent ambrosia arboreal armistice belfry centrifugal conical decipher diabolical epaulet equilibrium flotilla inadequate indignant labyrinths miraculous nostalgic precipice prehensile promontory radiance raucous recipient reconnaissance rivulet serenade tormentor tyranny vociferous Vocabulary Extension from Ed Helper

1. miraculous : unbelievable :: vociferous : ______brave beautiful noisy typical 2. arboreal : tree-like :: diabolical : ______intelligent godlike animalistic devilish 3. raucous : noisy :: affluent : ______funny wealthy understanding quiet 4. prompt : quick :: indignant : ______difficult angry hard kind 5. inconceivable : unthinkable :: inadequate : ______not good nonsense boring creative enough 6. hopeful : optimistic :: sentimental : ______centrifugal sad nostalgic pessimistic 7. riddle : puzzle :: labyrinth : ______prize ball mystery maze 8. state of balance : equilibrium :: truce : ______fighting tyranny armistice reconnaissance 9. promontory : high point :: precipice : ______edge pond low point river

1. riddle : puzzle :: labyrinth : ______prize maze mystery ball 2. state of balance : equilibrium :: truce : ______armistice fighting reconnaissance tyranny 3. inconceivable : unthinkable :: inadequate : ______not good boring creative nonsense enough 4. arboreal : tree-like :: diabolical : ______intelligent animalistic devilish godlike 5. prompt : quick :: indignant : ______hard angry difficult kind 6. miraculous : unbelievable :: vociferous : ______noisy typical brave beautiful 7. hopeful : optimistic :: sentimental : ______sad pessimistic nostalgic centrifugal 8. raucous : noisy :: affluent : ______quiet understanding wealthy funny 9. promontory : high point :: precipice : ______edge pond low point river

1. raucous : noisy :: affluent : ______funny understanding quiet wealthy 2. prompt : quick :: indignant : ______hard angry difficult kind 3. inconceivable : unthinkable :: inadequate : ______not good nonsense creative boring enough 4. promontory : high point :: precipice : ______pond low point river edge 5. arboreal : tree-like :: diabolical : ______animalistic intelligent devilish godlike 6. riddle : puzzle :: labyrinth : ______mystery prize maze ball 7. miraculous : unbelievable :: vociferous : ______brave typical noisy beautiful 8. hopeful : optimistic :: sentimental : ______pessimistic sad nostalgic centrifugal 9. state of balance : equilibrium :: truce : ______reconnaissance fighting armistice tyranny

Depth and Complexity Piece

I. Possible Topics  World War I  Armistice Day  1920’s  Conservation efforts- PETA, Anti fur campaigns, World Wildlife Federation  The importance of animals and their parents  The argument for or against the domestication of animals  Wisconsin scenery

II. Possible Extensions

 Make a travel brochure encouraging people to come to Wisconsin. Highlight several different “hot spots.”  Have students make a photo story about World War I.  Have students create a timeline of Sterling’s life and put five historical events on it.  Have students create an ad campaign for saving the wilderness.

Name ______Date ______Teacher ______Rascal’s Adventure Map Help! Rascal is lost and needs to find his way home. Help him get from Washington back to Wisconsin by completing one pathway of activities. You must complete both activities in the path for Rascal to return safely! Staple all activities to the back of this sheet.

Help me get home to Sterling!

Take fifteen words from the Make an Xtra Normal story that you think people (www.xtranormal.com) reenacting W may have a hard time a scene from the book. Make understanding. Make a sure the scene is at least one dictionary of these words, minute long and uses at least two W A providing the definition, characters from the story. examples, and a picture. I S Construct a timeline of at least Find at least thirty pictures of ten events from World War I. Wisconsin scenery. Combine all For each event, provide a two of the photos into a Photostory. S H sentence description of what Pick music to correspond with was taking place. You also need your pictures as well. Make sure to include at least 10 pictures. the music enhances the I Photostory. C

Research Sterling North’s life Create a glog with facts about a from the time he was born until raccoon. Include information on O N he died. Create a mini biography their eating, social, and family for Sterling, including facts habits. Also include at least five from his childhood and pictures of raccoons. The glog S G adulthood. The biography should should have a colorful wall, be at least two pages in length. interesting fonts, and graphics. I T Make a cartoon with ten slides Make a model of Sterling’s documenting the ten most canoe. You can make your model important events in the story. out of anything you would like, For each slide, provide a one but it needs to be three N O sentence explanation and a dimensional. Make sure it detailed and colored picture. accurately portrays the canoe N discussed in the novel.