Book Review: Good News, Bad News

Good News, Bad News by Jeff Mack

Why I picked it up
While searching for new books, Amazon kindly recommended the book to me. I was immediately drawn in my the hilarious facial expressions on the cover.

Why I finished it
The book is so simple and yet so complex. There are only four words throughout the book. The rabbit, the optimist, sees everything that happens at a picnic as good news. The mouse, the pessimist, can only see the bad news. Regardless of the simple text, the characterization and emotions are engaging for the youngest child to the oldest adult.

Who I would give it to
Any parent of a young child, 2-6 years of age and of course teachers! The young kids can read the book alone, but it is so much more fun to read aloud. I recently read the book to Kindergarten class. The students enjoyed this book so much. The teacher said they were still talking about it hours later! Not to mention, we talked about foreshadowing, making inferences, and characterization. They didn’t even know they were learning.
Integration ideas
Reading
Right from the start, even the youngest child will begin making inferences about what the bad news will be and what the good news might mean. As you read, if this is your goal, have students explain why they came up with that inference. Also, as students make inferences point out the characters expressions and have students talk about how they are feeling. Discuss how the characters change personalities at the end and what might have caused that change. Let students talk about a time when they thought things would be great, but turned out to be not so great.
With older students, they can start examining the cause and effect aspect that is throughout the story. Have notecards made with the causes from the story on one notecard and the effects on the others card. Pass out the cards and have students find their match. Once students are together, they should explain to the other students who has the cause and who has the effect.
Writing
After reading the story, let students brainstorm in their writing journal good news they’ve had and bad news. This is a great “seed planting” activity. From here, students can choose one to write about.