The story of the Paper Wagon was inspired by an old folk tale from Friesland. I had read the tale years ago and thought it was so hilarious, that I should do something with it. During my research I discovered that this tale must have been recorded in the 1700's, the same time as the Bremen Town Musicians were written. I realized I needed to make quite a few changes, because the story was very violent and had a terrible ending. I wrote the story first as a picture book but couldn't sell it. When Maggie de Vries, suggested to me that I should try to write for the new Orca Echoes series, I knew that this folk tale would be perfect for this age group.

The beautiful cover art as well as the interior sketches were created by Graham Ross.

I would like to thank Lotje Hives, Kindergarten Teacher at E.T. Carmichael P.S. (in North Bay, ON), and her students for their contributions to this study guide.

This is my paper wagon with all the characters from the story.

Five-year-old Ben Wooldridge from Victoria, BC decided to make the wheels with slices of cucumber. What a great idea, Ben!

Pre-reading Activities:

- looking at the cover, who do you think are the characters in this story?

- where do you think the wagon is going?

- who are pulling the wagon?

- who do you think is the strangest character in the wagon?

Language Activities

Comprehension

Chapter 1

  • What were the hen and the rooster making early one morning?
  • Where did the hen and the rooster live?
  • Describe what happened to the rooster.

Chapter 2

  • What did the hen need to save the rooster?
  • Why did she think she needed a wagon?
  • Describe how she made the wagon and which materials she used.

Chapter 3

  • Where was the hen going with the paper wagon?
  • Which characters did she meet along the way?
  • Why did all these creatures want to help her save the rooster?

Chapter 4

  • What time of day did they arrive in the forest?
  • How were they going to find the fox's house in the dark?
  • Which character was leading the way and why?

Chapter 5

  • How did they find the fox's house?
  • Which two characters had a hard time keeping up with the others?
  • Describe how they managed to look in the window of the fox's house.

Chapter 6

  • Describe how the rooster was feeling when they found him.
  • Why did they not go home after they had found the rooster?
  • Why did the hen have a plan?

Chapter 7

  • How did the needle surprise the fox?
  • How did the mice surprise the fox?
  • Where did the fox go?
  • How do you think the fox felt?

Chapter 8

  • How did the hen and her helpers get the fox home?
  • What was ready when they got back to the chicken coop?
  • How did the little hen thank her friends?
  • Did you think the fox deserved a bowl of soup after he had missed his dinner? Why?
  • How would you have ended the story?

Writing

  • Write a short story about the main character. Mention three things that you learned about the little hen.
  • Write a recipe for your favourite soup.
  • Describe how you can make a paper wagon.
  • Write down who your favourite character is in the story and why.
  • Write down a plan how you would trick the fox.
  • Write a poem about a fox, a hen or a rooster.

Read the following books together:

  • Henny Penny
  • The Little Red Hen
  • The Bremen Town Musicians
  • Stone Soup

On Chart Paper compare and contrast the books. Find similarities and differences with the story of The Paper Wagon.

Read books that have bad foxes and wolves ( Little Red Ridinghood, The Three little pigs, The wolf and the seven kittens, The Gingerbread man and Jemima Puddle Duck)

Compare the actions of the bad wolves and foxes.

Character Education

Through discussion discover the various character traits of the characters: Responsibility Perseverance, Compassion, Friendship and Forgiveness.

Drama

Act out the scenes in which these character traits are demonstrated. Make face masks out of paper plates.

Puppets

Make the characters out of paper bags and turn a large box into a puppet stage .

With a partner, students write and perform a scene from the story.

Math Activities

  • Take one square piece of paper and fold it in half (How many rectangles?)
  • Fold the paper in half again (How many squares?)
  • Fold one end to the centre line (How many rectangles?)
  • Fold the other end to the centre line (How many squares?)
  • Cut off one strip of four squares (How many squares left?)
  • Continue to work with the piece with 12 squares.
  • Make two slits at either end in the middle square.
  • Glue the two end squares onto the middle square
  • Repeat this for the other side.
  • Look at your 3-D box and find a spot for the wheels.
  • Measure two sticks that have the same length and fit them through the box.
  • Find four wheels. If you slice a cucumber make sure you measure the thickness of the slices. If you use apples, makes sure all four are the same size.
  • Build a ramp.
  • Predict which paper wagon will roll faster down the ramp, the one with the apples, the one with the cucumbers or the one with the marhsmellows. Now try it out and see if your predictions matched the outcome.

Art

Create the characters for your paper wagon

Use plasticine, paper mache, pompoms, or valuable junk

Making Soup The Hen's Recipe

  • 4 cups of water
  • 1 cup of peeled and diced potatoes
  • 1 cup of green beans
  • 1 cup of peeled and diced red beets
  • 1 cup of onions chopped into small pieces
  • 1 tablespoon of parsley, chopped very fine
  • 1 tablespoon of chives, cut into small pieces
  • 1 branch of rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of pepper
  • 1/2 a teaspoon of curry

Bring all ingredients to boil. Stir occasionally. Add the herbs and the spices and let the soup simmer for 45 minutes. Eat with crackers or French bread.

You can add your own vegetables and create a special recipe for your class.

Enjoy!