One of my favorite books as a child was, and still is, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. This book is about a young girl, Salamanca, whose mother goes on a trip and never returns from that journey. Sal lives with her father in Euclid, Ohio but the plot is set up as the journey that Sal takes with her grandparents in order to see the sites that her mother visited before passing on. While on the trip with her grandparents, Sal tells her grandma a story about her new friend Phoebe and the adventures and mystery that are involved in their relationship. By the end of the book, the reader is able to experience the journey that Sal takes in order to walk in her mother’s shoes.
I enjoyed this book because it was the one of the first chapter books that I actually enjoyed reading. In fourth grade, my friends and I decided to start a book club and this was the first book we chose to read. I loved the book when we read it in our club and I read it about five more times immediately after we finished it in our group. Walk Two Moons jump started reading for me and allowed me to find a joy in reading books and traveling to the worlds that those books brought me into. The book encompassed numerous ideas that are involved in life. I think it is a great story for children in fourth or fifth grade. The book is able to include ideas of loss, friendship, and the journey of life. Children are going to have to deal with these different issues throughout their lives and by discussing these themes within the classroom by reading a book it will easily open the discussion forum.
I could easily see myself introducing this book into my classroom if I taught the older elementary grades. It is a chapter book and the issues presented in the book are more appropriate for older children. I am not sure what standards could be met or could be presented by reading this book but it could possibly be used as a “free read” for book projects or other work forms in the classroom. This book has a great way of capturing a child’s attention from the start and that is why I believe that it is a wonderful book to read in the classroom and to get children to truly enjoy reading on their own and for fun.
This is the link to purchase Walk Two Moons:
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