P a g e | 97 Awful Auntie by David Walliams 2014 HarperCollins (411 pages) P a g e | 98 NOVEL STUDY GUIDE Awful Auntie, by David Walliams SUMMARY Aunt Alberta is on a mission to cheat the young Lady Stella Saxby out of her inheritance - Saxby Hall. But with mischievous and irrepressible Soot, the cockney ghost of a chimney sweep, alongside her Stella is determined to fight back...And sometimes a special friend, however different, is all you need to win through. The book has 43 chapters. CHARACTER REVIEW Aunt Alberta Stella Saxby Soot Gibbon Wagner Detective Strauss Lord and Lady Saxby SEL THEMES IN THE BOOK Friendship Problem Solving Good winner/ Good loser Feelings review: upset, worried, scared/afraid, proud, smug, anger, misery, horror, sad, happy, nervous, malicious P a g e | 99 STUDY QUESTIONS Chapter 1 - Frozen The chapter is called ‘Frozen’. Which part of the story do you think this is describing? When Stella is frozen in bed and can’t move because of the casts. What feelings do you think Stella would have when she felt frozen? Petrified, scared, horrified, confused, sad. Have you ever felt so scared you have frozen? What happened? You might want to give your own example here e.g. when you were younger you seen people dressed up on Halloween and you wanted to run away but you were frozen stiff, luckily when you realized that it was only people dressed up you were fine. Reinforce that all feelings are OK. Activity Complimenting and Literacy The title of the book is ‘Awful Auntie’ which is alliteration about awful aunt Alberta. In SEL lessons, we like to compliment people so can you think of some complimentary alliteration for the children on your table? E.g. Amazing Amy, Helpful Harry, Lovely Laura, Sharing Sarah etc. Chapter 2 – A baby vanishes Mother was “wracked with pain” when the baby vanished. What does this mean? Is it physical? Is it feelings? What feelings? It can feel like you are hurt but on the inside, nothing physical has harmed you. It can feel like a broken heart. After a while, mother and father learned to ‘put on their happy faces’. Were they really happy? They were pretending to be okay to try and move on. What was the feeling they were having if they were hiding it? They were remaining private. Discuss private and when you might have this feeling. Give an example e.g. you were invited to a friend’s house for dinner and they gave you fish and chips which you don’t like and you felt disgust but you didn’t want to be rude so you just ate the chips and explained that you were full so you didn’t have to eat the fish or feel rude. Activity Homework Research Have a look at the Saxby family tree. Can you create your own family tree? How many generations can you find out about? Art Draw a split portrait of someone who is showing their real feelings on the left and what it looks like when the same person is hiding their feelings on the right (one face split down the middle showing two different feelings). Chapter 3 – A beastly child Who were the main characters involved in chapter 3? Chester, Alberta, Gibbon, Lord and Lady Saxby How do you think everything Alberta did to her brother Chester made him feel? Sad, upset, annoyed, confused Why didn’t he say anything? He loved his sister Did Chester enjoy playing Tiddlywinks? Why/why not? Was Alberta good at loosing? How do you know? P a g e | 100 Activity Comparison table Can you complete the table giving examples of character traits shown by a good winner/good loser Good Winner Good Loser Doesn’t tease or boast Doesn’t get upset Game Can you play a game of Tiddlywinks and show the traits of a good winner/loser that you have just listed? Chapter 4 – Great Mountain Owl Do you think the Owl and Aunt Alberta are friends? Can animals and humans be friends? Activity Art Draw an owl you would like to have a pet/friend. What would they be like? What would they look like? Label personality traits they would have. Chapter 5 – Mummified ‘A trace of a smile crossed her aunts face “I have some rather upsetting news about your parents”…’ Why would she say this with a smile? She might have been happy about what happened to them. She didn’t love them. She wanted to upset Stella and was looking forward to seeing her upset. Stella was feeling a lot of emotions in this chapter can you list 3 and tell me what makes you think she felt this way? Activity Writing Prompt - Try to predict what you think is going to happen in the rest of this story based on the information you have so far. Chapter 6 – Some terrible nightmare Stella received some bad news in this chapter which made her feel upset. Auntie Alberta wasn’t very nice about the way she gave the news or her reaction to what happened. How do you think you can best support someone who has just received upsetting news? Talk to them, listen to them, be a friend, let them know you will be there. Try and cheer them up with their favorite activity – movie, joke etc. P a g e | 101 Activity Problem-Solving Activity – At the end of this chapter, Stella is faced with a huge problem. In co-operative learning groups, identify Stella’s problem, how she/and others would be feeling, decide on a goal for Stella, think of 3 possible solutions, think about the consequences of each one, choose the best solution and make a plan that you think Stella should try out. Role-play this in your group. Chapter 7 – The Human Caterpillar When Stella was trying to get out of the bandages she at first felt exhausted and dejected, then she felt exhausted and determined. In both cases she was exhausted but what do the other two feelings mean? Are they similar feelings or completely different? How could she feel different feelings in a few minutes? Dejected – sad and depressed – dispirited, Determined – committed to/insistent on Chapter 8 – The Great Escape Stella heard footsteps coming towards her ‘CLOMP, CLOMP, CLOMP’. How would she be feeling? Worried, scared, nervous, petrified etc. What would show on the outside? Shaking, sweating What would be happening to her body on the inside? Heart beating fast, feeling sick, can’t concentrate. What do you think the owl will do? Chapter 9 – Hunted down Activity Feelings Can you list all the feelings mentioned in this chapter? Do you know what they all mean? How many have you experienced? Worry, fear, fright, sinister Chapter 10 – Locked in the cellar Stella could see her Aunt becoming angrier and angrier and she began ‘twitching with fury, but she was trying to hide it’. Why would she try and hide her feelings? Stella was catching her out on her lies but she didn’t want to let her see how annoyed it was making her. Where do you think the deeds are hidden? Chapter 11 – Behind the walls Chapter 11 talks about how Aunt Alberta doesn’t follow the rules or follow the rule books. Do you have rules in class? Do you think they are important? Why/why not? Refer back to the school rules – Rules give us order and help us feel safe, Rules make it easier to learn, Rules keep us out of trouble. Refer to Alberta and how if she had followed the rules when she was playing games, more people would have wanted to play games with her, she may have had more friends etc. Have you ever had issues with rules when playing games? What issues? What could you do differently next time to make sure this doesn’t happen? Clarify rules before starting the game (different children may have heard different rules and may not be playing differently on purpose – come to an agreement). P a g e | 102 Chapter 12 – Posho Stella felt ‘offended’ by the way the ghost was talking about her. These were only words. Can you be ‘hurt’ by words? Have you heard the saying ‘sticks and stone may break my bones but words will never hurt me’? Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Activity Comparison - Compare how Soot feels about Stella and how different this is to how Aunt Alberta views her. Chapter 13 – A light in the shape of a boy “I heard ya crying and it made me sad. I thought I might be able to help” said Soot. Have you ever been in need and a friend has helped you? Can you list things that Soot could do to cheer up a friend? Tell a joke, do their favorite thing, watch their favorite movie etc. Soot and Stella decided to try and be friends. Stella started by shaking hands with Soot and introducing herself. Is it easy to make a new friend? What else can you do when you first make a new friend? Talk about what you like/dislike, hobbies you have, do you have anything in common etc. Activity Literacy – write a set of instructions on ‘how to make a friend’. See if you can display these around the school so you can help others who may be struggling. Chapter 14 – Ghost Snot Why didn’t Soot have any manners? What do you think Stella is going to ask for help with? Activity Comparison table Can you list what traits are good manners and which are bad manners? Can you think of any other words for then people show bad manners? rude Good manners Bad manners Listening thoughtfully Interrupting Saying thank you Talking over others Chapter 15 – The Ghost detective “Stella took a deep breath and pulled herself up”…Why would she take a deep breath? To calm herself and prepare.