Point of View

A great book to use when teaching students about point of view is Jon Scieszka's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Rather than hearing the same old version of the tale, as told by the pigs, this books tells "the real story". It is told from the point of view of the wolf, Alexander T. Wolf. As you can imagine, it is quite different from the pigs' version. You see, the wolf only wanted to borrow a cup of sugar from his neighbor to use in a cake for his sick Granny, but a sneeze turned into a catastrophe.

All joking aside, this book is a starting point for discussing the way a story can change depending on who is telling it. It is important to teach children not only how to read, but how to be a critical reader and thinker. This is a fun way to illustrate the different sides of a story.

Check out this site to read about other books by Jon Scieszka: http://www.baloneyhenryp.com/ . I haven't read his new book, Baloney (Henry P.), cowritten with Lane Smith, but I am looking forward to it.