To Market...To Market

Author/Illustrator:  Vilma Zuliani/Kathy Morrissey

About the Author:

Vilma is a published author.  Another book she has written is Randy Robin Finds A Friend.  She is also has published credits with I Believe in Make Believe.

Genre: Historical fiction

Grade Level:  5-8
Theme: Life in the community/History

Synopsis:

This book is about a little boy named Johnny who lives in a little town just South of Boston.  It talks about how every weekend they go into Boston to the Haymarket to buy foods and see all the vendors they always see.  They notice that one of the vendors is not there and finally they find out he is sick with the flu and too weak to run his stand.  They go back the following weekend hoping he is there but again he is not.  So they visit him and find out he is still too weak but feeling better and Johnny offers to help Rico work his stand.  He has a job with Rico and works throughout the summer.  Once summer ends he has to stop working the weekends with Rico because of school but he would still help Rico every Saturday when he went to the market until summer started again.  Throughout the book there are references to different things located in Boston.  For example, the old North Church with its tall white steeple where laterns hung to warn the soldiers that the British were coming.  It references the Boston Tea Party as well as Faneuil Hall.

Pre Reading Activity:

Activity:

Ask students if they have ever been to the Boston Market or to Boston in general.  Have them write down things their families buy in their own markets before reading the story to see similarities and differences among each market once the story has been read.

Post Reading Activity:

Activity:
After reading the story, put students in groups and have them become researchers and use the computer to look up different information about the American Revolution.  Give each group a different part to look up such as where the idea for the latterns came up, Paul Revere's ride, the Boston Tea Party and other information related to the American Revolution.  Have students then become reporters and report their findings to the class.

Reflection:

I think this is a great book to use for older grades because of its reference to the American Revolution.  This book would help students learn about the Revolution in a way that is interesting for them by letting them use the computer instead of reading a textbook.  I thought this was also a good book because it gives a lot of background information about the market in Boston as well as historical references that students can further research!