Tom Thumb

Tom Thumb

Title: Tom Thumb

Genre: Fantasy

Author and Illustrator: Richard Jesse Watson

Awards: Golden Kite Award by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

Age group: 5-7 years old

This book tells of the classic story of Tom Thumb, a very little boy and his journey to become the knight of the round table. The lesson it teaches is that you are never too small to make a difference. This is a fantastic book with great illustrations.

Summary:

Long ago, there was a poor farmer and his wife. One day a beggar came to their house,but the beggar turned out to be Merlin the great wizard, and he noticed the farmer was sad and when he asked why they said it was because they wanted a child (even if he was the size of my thumb). Then Merlin blessed them with a tiny child the size of a fairy and they called him Tom Thumb. Though, as Tom got older he did not get bigger. Tom Thumb loved to explore which was dangerous; Tom felt that he was a burden on his parents sometimes. Then one day a crow picked up Tom by mistake and then dropped him and he landed in a dark castle. It was the castle of a giant. Most giants can be dangerous, but this one was not because the fairies had given him a special charm, a seashell so he could hear the soothing sound of the ocean, to help calm him. Forgetting that giants get startled easily, Tom yells at the giant, and the giant ends up breaking the shell. This made the giant mad, the giant picked Tom up and ate him. Though, the giant later spit the boy out over into the sea. Then a fish swallowed him, later the fish was caught by a royal fisherman, who was shocked to find him in the fish. The fisherman took him to the king who was delighted, then one day the cook dropped the king’s favorite dessert and blamed Tom for it so the king imprisoned Tom. Soon Tom missed his parents, then a mouse told Tom that King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table have gone to battle against a giant who is raging war for no reason. Tom knew why and set out with help from animals to get a new shell. Then in the mist of battle Tom gives the giant the new shell, and it calms the giant who goes back to his castle. The king was so grateful to Tom that he made him a knight and offered him gold to take back to his parents. So in the end Tom helped his parents and earned his place as the smallest knight of the round table.

I believe I could use this book in my classroom because it is relatively short and easy, with a great lesson and would make for a good read aloud. This exact book also has great illustrations that go so well with the story.

The appropriate grade level for this book is 1st-2nd grade, because this book does have a lot of words to a page, but the pictures really help the story come to life.

This would be a great read aloud and a way to introduce the fairy tale genre. You would ask them after reading “do you think this could happen in real life” and they would (usually) say no then you would explain how that makes it a Fairy tale/Fantasy book.Then the teacher would also recommend other books they can read in this genre.

HAVE FUN READING!💙-Lacy