Book Review: Fergal and the Bad Temper by Robert Starling

Why I Picked It Up:

This adorable picture book is on the Texas Library Association’s 2X2 Book List for 2019. I have to tell you, the TLA usually gets it right, and I always enjoy books about characters with bad tempers (we can analyze that later…)

Why I Finished It:

Fergal really is a sweet little dragon who has a hard time controlling his temper. (It reminded me of one of my own dear children, but I won’t tell you which one.) Fergal wants to fit in and get along with his friends, but when he feels things aren’t fair, his breathing fire gets in the way of his friendships. He needs to learn how to get along and control his temper, and his parents and friends lend him ideas on how to cope with his feelings.

Who I Would Give It To:

This is a perfect book for primary-aged students to see that, when they feel things are not fair, it’s okay, but you have to be able to express your feelings in a positive way.

Integration Ideas:

Character Analysis

This is a great book to analyze the difference between character traits and character feelings. Fergal is always a nice and friendly character (trait), but sometimes he would get angry and frustrated (feelings). Spend time talking to the students and help them separate out traits from feelings. Begin making an anchor chart so students can continue to think and delineate between the two concepts throughout the year.

Check out these handy Character Trait/Feelings Cards in our shop!

Text to Self Connections

Have students discuss all the characters in the book and compare and contrast their calming techniques, as well as how they reacted to others.  Open up the conversation to include how the students in class calm themselves down. Choose a method to try for the week as a class. Then come back together to discuss how it went.

Alliteration and Onomatopoeia

Two different types of wordplay are evident throughout this picture book: alliteration and onomatopoeia. Choose one, explain what it is, and give an example. Next, use this book as a mentor text. Reread a page that has the strategy. For example, when teaching alliteration, I used, “Fergal felt fiery. ‘It’s not fair;'” from the book. I projected the page, so all students could see it. We reread the line a few times. I asked the students what they noticed about the sentence.

They will notice many things, but eventually, someone will say alliteration. Spend some time with the students discussing what alliteration is and how it is used in this sentence. Then ask, “Why do you think the author used alliteration here? What does it do for the reader?” Lead your students through the conversation. It’s hard to answer, but important they understand that the author did this intentionally and there is a reason – it wasn’t an accident!

As always, have students practice writing alliteration in their own work. Each day for the next couple of days, choose another alliteration sentence from the text.

The different sounds he makes when he’s breathing fire (SCROOOF! EWOOOMF!) are one onomatopoeia example from the book that you can use to do the same type of lesson.

Writers’ Workshop: Generating Ideas

In a true Writers’ Workshop, students need to have an ongoing list, or bank, of ideas of things they can write about. So, have students think about how they feel when they get super “fiery”.  How does that affect other people?

If they can think of a specific incident that made them firey, great! Or, they can think more generally about how they react and what they do when they get upset. Have students write about their personal incident, or their feelings, or start their own list of things they can do to calm down when they get upset.

How will you use the book? Leave a comment below.