This gem of a book is about a rather fastidious boy whose cousin comes to stay with his family. His cousin is quite the knitting machine and creates a multitude of sweaters for Lester…although his feelings about the sweaters are a tad bit questionable.
Reading Teaching Points
Before diving into the book, check out that cover---the word “Dreadful”, the use of different colors in the title, the look on Lester’s face, the look on the dog’s face!, and that book bag Lester is carrying already gives us insight into his character!
Vocabulary:
What does “unsavory” mean? How do you know?
What does “dreadful” mean? How do you know?
What does “irksome” mean? (Isn’t that just cool word???) How do you know?
What does “ghastly” mean? How do you know?
What does “wailed” mean? How do you know?
What does “troupe” mean? How do you know?
Character Traits:
After reading through page 2, describe Lester…what evidence is there for your description? (Use text and pictures!!) Would you want to be friends with Lester…why or why not?
Keep reading through page 4 of the text---has your understanding of Lester change? Been reinforced? What evidence?
How does Cousin Clara react to each sweater “tragedy”? What are some words to describe her? What evidence can we give from the text to support our descriptions?
Does our understanding of Lester change throughout the story? Is he the same character throughout the entire story? When does the change in him show? What is the event that causes that change in him?
Do think Lester would ever really become a clown? Why or why not? What doe we know about him from the book that supports your answer?
Comprehension:
Once Cousin Clara tells Lester that she has made him a sweater, how does he immediately feel?
On page 5, cover the sentence “It was DREADFUL” and the picture. How does Lester feel about this sweater. How do you know? How do the descriptions convey Lester’s feelings?
What role did the sweater play in Lester’s day not going well? Because of this, is he going to be motivated to wear any more of Cousin Clara’s sweaters?
How did Lester’s first sweater wind up being “discovered” in the laundry? Why “discovered”? What was his motivation to behave in this way?
Why does Enid think that Lester “must be with the clowns” when he enters her party?
Why doesn’t Cousin Clara think she may not be related to Lester’s family? What in the story helps to understand this?
What point of view is this story? How does the point of view affect this story? What if it were written from Cousin Clara’s point of view?
What is the theme of the story? What lesson does Lester learn about life?
Text Features:
Why does the author use “IT” instead of “it” to describe the sweaters as the story goes on. What is the impact of that text feature? (Beyond just “it makes it stand out for the reader.”)
How do the pictures support the story? Look especially at the page that says, “On seeing Cousin Clara’s freshly knitted collection, the clowns went nuts.”----Why are the parents dancing in the background?
WritingTeaching Points
Sentence Structure (Very Good Models in this BOOK!!!!):
Why does the author use ellipses (…) immediately after Lester’s response to Cousin Clara informing him that she has made him a sweater (page 4)? How does the use of the ellipses affect the reader?
Look at the sentence structure on page 5. The author put 3 sentences in a row that are very similar in their structure (It was…, It had…, It was…, It was…). We often instruct students that they should have varied beginnings to their sentences, so why does the author break this rule here? What does it contribute to how the readers visualize/feel about this sweater?
Look at the following compound sentence: “He clutched a large pair of scissors, and his hands were covered with yarn.” What makes this a compound sentence? What is the subject of the first independent clause? What is the verb of the first independent clause? What is the subject of the 2nd independent clause? What is the verb of the 2nd independent clause? Could we delete the word “and”? Why not? Have students mirror this compound sentence on their own!
Look at this sentence: “On seeing Cousin Clara’s freshly knitted collection, the clowns went nuts.” Why is there a comma in this sentence? Where is the independent clause? Could we put a period where the comma is and it would all make sense? Have students model this sentence structure on their own and share!
Look at this sentence: “On the spot, Cousin Clara was offered a job, knitting for the whole troupe.” Why are there 2 commas in this sentence? Is this a compound sentence? Why not? This is a great sentence to have students model! Great elevated sentence structure!
Look at this sentence: “So she accepted the offer and packed up her knitting.” Why isn’t ther a comma right after the word “offer”? Is this a compound sentence? Why not?
Look at this sentence: “After everyone was gone, Lester discovered a honking nose and a left-behind sweater.” Why is there a comma after gone? Is this a compound sentence? Why not? Where is the independent clause? Can we put a period instead of the comma? Why not? Also a GREAT sentence for the students to use as a model!!!!
Look through the book and find other sentences that could be discussed (especially the use of commas!) and used as models; some good ones are:
“No one knew exactly whose cousin Cousin Clara was, so she came to stay with Lester’s family.” (compound sentence)
“Later, Lester’s sweater was discovered in the laundry, all stringy and shrunken.”
“That night, long after bedtime, Lester could hear a frantic clickety-clickety-clickety-click.”
Word Choice:
Look carefully at the names the author selected for other characters: Mr. Twist and Enid Measles. He had his choice in naming these characters, why would the author choose these names?
Verbs:
The author’s use of the verb “eyed” is very powerful in the sentence “Lester eyed the garbage can.” What does that verb convey about how Lester is feeling? What does that verb convey about his motive at this point in the story? Why didn’t the author use “looked at” or “saw”?
Figurative Language:
Great book to teach alliteration!!! The alliteration in this book is clear, direct, and purposeful.
Have students model the sentences with onomatopoeia…like “All she did was sit and knit, clickety-click, clickety-click.” Great one for students to model:
All I did was ________ and ________, _____________, ____________.
Extension Writing:
Have students write a positive description (with alliteration!) of a sweater and a positive adjective to describe it. Draw the sweater!
Students could write some of the “irksome” things Enid said about Lester’s second sweater.
Cousin Clara could write a letter/postcard to Lester's family telling of her time with the clowns!