Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig (1970 Caldecott Book)

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1970)

William Steig has a very interesting story telling style that I enjoy, especially in this book.

Sylvester is a young donkey who loves pebbles. He collects them and is always searching for special stones to add to his collection. One day he discovers an unusual specimen. It is a small red pebble. "It was flaming red, shiny, and perfectly round, like a marble."

It's a rainy day, and Sylvester makes a casual wish that it would stop raining. Much to his surprise, the rain stops immediately. He decides this is because it is a magical pebble and wishes that it would start raining again. When the rain starts, Sylvester knows his guess is correct.

While heading home to share his magical pebble with anyone that needs assistance, Sylvester sees a lion approaching. In a panic, he wishes that he was a stone so the lion won't be able to find him. Sylvester instantly finds himself as a stone, but because he isn't touching the pebble he isn't able to turn back.

I won't tell you what happens next except to say that Sylvester's parents are extremely worried about their son. Check out the book to see what else happens.

So how can you use this in a classroom? There are lots of opportunities to use prediction strategies in this book. One example is starting the sentence "Then Sylvester turned into a..." and give the kids a chance to guess and see if they are right.

You can also talk about making good choices. Sylvester wants to use his pebble to help other people, which is a good choice, but then he makes a bad choice in wishing to be a stone. You can also review the steps of the story and see how much the children have retained.

Another fun activity is to let the children explore what they might do with a magic pebble.

So here we have a story filled with educational opportunities. Check it out and use it in your classroom.