world literature

What is the connection between the stranger who does not talk and the farmer and his family? Watch for the subtle clues. My students always listen (and watch) intently when I have them watch for clues. Who is the stranger? Fun book for children. Well illustrated.

Bang!! Have you ever hit a person who you thought was a deer, while driving your car? Probably not. But, when a mixed up stranger comes into a house, the family thinks he is really weird. The author doesn't tell you who this guy is, but you can read this book yo try to find out!

-Erica

Chris van Allsburg's "The Stranger" is, well, a very interesting read. I have to admit to NOT liking it the first couple of times I read it to my kids, partly because the stranger in question remains a stranger throughout the book. Van Allsburg gives us no easy answers here. Still, this makes the book an excellent jumping-off place for questions about who we are, what makes a group of people a family or a community, and how well we really all know each other.

The illustrations are, as usual, stellar van Allsburg stuff. The cover portrait especially, of the stranger being served soup by Farmer Bailey's wife, is very nearly hypnotic. The stranger's face is suffused with a mixture of fear and wonderment, and you find yourself thinking, "Is it the soup that fascinates him? The tureen across the table? The farmer's wife?" It really gets you thinking.