Literature: Term 1 Super Pack

 
Purchase a discounted term (16 weeks) of classes! This includes:
 
Imagination (4 weeks)
A giant that can create dreams? Two kids as rulers of a secret kingdom? Don’t let your imagination run away with you! Learn about how we dream, magic worlds, and the key to reading books. Can you imagine how much fun this is going to be?

Kindness and Generosity (4 weeks) 
Both these stories highlight friendship, loyalty, and kindness. What does it mean to be kind? Discover kindness between friends, communities, and families as we travel between worlds, real and imagined.
 
Family (4 weeks)
We have all said something like, “I wish that…”, haven’t you? Now imagine if you got your wish. These children did! However, none of them went quite as planned… After their wild wish adventures, they meet a phoenix! It can talk and shows them a time-traveling magic carpet. Who needs wishes when they have that?
 
Animals (4 weeks)
Ever heard the phrase, A dog is a man’s best friend? In these stories, learn about two canines who most certainly prove the truthfulness of that line. These animals teach their owners about true loyalty, friendship, and love. 
 
Day and Time: Thursdays, 12:45 - 1:45 PM ET
Bundle Duration: 16 Weeks
Dates: September 19, 2024 - January 30, 2025
No class November 28, December 19, 26, January 2 
Recommended for: Ages 9+ / Grades 4-5
Teacher: TTK Faculty
Required Materials:* 
The BFG, by Roald Dahl
Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
The Wheel on the School, by Meindert DeJong
The Wind Boy, by Ethel Cook Eliot
The Five Children and It, by Edith Nesbit
The Phoenix and the Carpet, by Edith Nesbit
Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo
Old Yeller, by Fred Gipson
 
See more literature classes: thethinkingkid.org/literature
See more classes for ages 9+ / grades 4-5: thethinkingkid.org/grades-4-5
 
The BFG, by Roald Dahl
The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It's lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, or any of the other giants—rather than the BFG—she would have soon become breakfast. When Sophie hears that the giants are flush-bunking off to England to swollomp a few nice little chiddlers, she decides she must stop them once and for all. And the BFG is going to help her!
 
Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
Jess Aarons had to be the Fastest runner at Lark Creek Elementary School, the best, but when he was challenged by Leslie Burke, a girl, that was just the beginning of a new season in Jess’s life. Leslie and her parents were newcomers to Jess's rural community, and were thought to be a bit odd—they didn’t even own a TV, and their house was filled with books. Somewhat to Jess’s surprise, he and Leslie become friends, and the worlds of imagination and learning that she opens change him forever.
 
The Wheel on the School, by Meindert DeJong
Why do the storks no longer come to the little Dutch fishing village of Shora to nest? It was Lina, one of the six schoolchildren who first asked the question, and she set the others to wondering. And sometimes when you begin to wonder, you begin to make things happen. So the children set out to bring the storks back to Shora.
 
The Wind Boy, by Ethel Cook Eliot
Siblings Kay and Gentian and their mother Detra, are refugees who come to live in a village, hoping against hope to hear news of their soldier-father. The people of the village shun the little family, and they live in lonely poverty.
 
That all changes when Nan, a girl “from the mountains,” comes to care for the house and children while Detra finds work. Nan can tell wonderful stories, and she makes the small house a happy home. Best of all, Nan introduces the children to the Clear Land and its people. Above the village, there is a village much like it, which one can enter if one can see it. (But of course, not everyone can.) They befriend the Wind Boy, a Clear child in disgrace until he destroys an ugly mask he made as a joke. Someone— no one knows who— found his mask and is using it to frighten children in the village. Together, Kay, Gentian, Nan, and the Wind Boy must find the culprit and destroy the mask.
 
The Five Children and It, by Edith Nesbit
When Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother go digging in the gravel pit, the last thing they expect to find is a Psammead – an ancient Sand-fairy! Having a Sand-fairy for a pet means having one wish granted each day. But the children don't realize all the trouble wishes can cause . . .
 
The Phoenix and the Carpet, by Edith Nesbit
It's startling enough to have a phoenix hatch in your house, but even more startling when it talks and reveals that you have a magic carpet on the floor. The vain and ancient bird accompanies the children on a series of adventures through time and space which, magic being what it is, rarely turn out as they were meant . . . This sequel to Five Children and It continues the magical adventures of siblings Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother.
 
Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo
One summer’s day, ten-year-old India Opal Buloni goes down to the local supermarket for some groceries—and comes home with a dog. But Winn-Dixie is no ordinary dog. It’s because of Winn-Dixie that Opal begins to make friends. And it’s because of Winn-Dixie that she finally dares to ask her father about her mother, who left when Opal was three. In fact, as Opal admits, just about everything that happens that summer is because of Winn-Dixie.
 
Old Yeller, by Fred Gipson
When his father sets out on a cattle drive for the summer, fourteen-year-old Travis is left to take care of his family and their farm, and he faces new, unanticipated and often perilous responsibilities in the wilderness of early frontier Texas. But Travis is not alone. He finds help and comfort in the courage and unwavering love of the stray animal who comes to be his most loyal and very best friend: the big yellow dog Travis calls "Old Yeller."
 
*Students must have the books to participate in the course.