MARTINA, THE BEAUTIFUL COCKROACH, A Cuban Folktale PLUS MAYBELLE and COOTIES

Are you ready for some laugh-out-loud, roll on the floor giggling fun? Here are three cockroachy books that you'll never forget.

MARTINA, THE BEAUTIFUL COCKROACH, A CUBAN FOLKTALE

MAYBELLE IN THE SOUP

COCKROACH COOTIES

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MARTINA, THE BEAUTIFUL COCKROACH, A CUBAN FOLKTALE by Carmen Agra Deedy is a Cuban folktale that offers wise advice to young maidens (and cockroaches) searching for just the right husband. PERFECT for all ages!

Martina, the Beautiful Cockroach has just grown up! She is now 21 days old and is ready to entertain suitors. But will she know the right best husband when he comes courting? Her Cuban grandmother Abuela gives her some incredibly shocking advice. " You want me to do what?" Martina gasps.

The string of suitors come and the little green cockroach puts them to the test. Only one is good and clever enough to earn her hand ... er ... feeler! The results are delightful! Which one will win her hand, the rooster, the pig, the lizard, or the mouse? Will she choose the right one?

The 23-page Kids Wings Literature Guide for MARTINA, THE BEAUTIFUL COCKROACH, A CUBAN FOLKTALE was written by Suzy Red and comes to you in both PowerPoint and PDF formats, perfect for projecting and printing. The activities include:

* Pre-reading Discussion Cards

* Crossword Puzzle

* Cockroach Facts Readers’ Theater

* Cuba Research and Map Study

* Story Mapping

* Character Lesson: Choosing the Right Husband or Wife

* Creative Artwork Activities

* Comparing Books

* Vocabulary and Writing Activities

* Multiple Choice Comprehension

* Spanish Vocabulary Activity

* Logic Puzzle

* Fun with Words

* Discussion/Writing Prompts

* Answer Page

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MAYBELLE IN THE SOUP by Katie Speck is the Kids Wings officially funniest choice of read-aloud laughter. An easy read that is PERFECT for all ages!

Maybelle lives under the Just-So Peabody's refrigerator and lives on crumbs and spills, but the desire of her heart is to eat from a real bowl. She has always followed her three important rules, but sometimes a cockroach has to do what a cockroach has to do. Fortunately, her flea friend, Henry, is there to try to save her most of the time, but where is he when she falls headfirst into the bowl of turtle soup and is almost slurped down by Mrs. Snodgrass? "Well, even if a cockroach can't get exactly what a cockroach wants, you can't blame her for trying."

This is one of the funniest stories you will ever read aloud! (And you HAVE to read it aloud so everyone can laugh out loud TOGETHER!) Maybelle's appetite for food leads them into hysterically funny situations. The characterization is beautifully portrayed and invites you to reconsider squashing that poor roach or giving your dog a flea bath. Who would want to hurt poor, creepy, innocent, little Maybelle or her brilliant Henry? It's an easy chapter book that will leave your kids begging for more, and happily, there is more: Maybelle Comes to Tea.

The 29-pages of Activities for MAYBELLE IN THE SOUP were written by Suzy Red and come to you in both PowerPoint and PDF formats for easy projecting and printing. Activities in this unit include:

* Pre-reading Discussion Cards

* Crossword Puzzles

* Cockroach and the Flea: Readers’ Theater

* Puppets for The Readers’ Theater

* Maybelle’s Rules to Live By

* Making Connections (Predict/Read/Confirm Chapter Questions)

* Idioms

* Character Connections: Maybelle’s Rules and Your Rules

* Building Your Vocabulary

* Story Mapping

* Multiple Choice Comprehension Activities

* Comparing Books

* Creative Writing Planning Corner—2 Pages

* Creative Writing, First Draft

* Creative Writing, Final Draft

* Researching an Insect

* Logic Puzzle: Crumbs and Spills Menu

* Word-Changing Rules (ing, y, and double consonants)

* Discussion/Writing Prompts
* Answer Page

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COCKROACH COOTIES by Laurence Yep

Arnie, the school bully, is out to get brothers Teddy and Bobby!  How can the brothers use a bug named Hercules to bring down a giant and find common ground with him?  They will need courage, compassion, self-reliance, and ...a cockroach... to find justice! PERFECT intermediate grades!

Note from Suzy Red:  Ooo, gross.  Okay, I have to admit I avoided these books as long as I could but was VERY pleasantly surprised!  Not only did they begin to desensitize me to those nasty bugs, but I was delighted with the stories!  They have become favorites of our kids (the books not the bugs) -- and maybe they won't have to suffer from the cockroach- phobia I have! 

The 10-page Kids Wings literature guide was written by Suzy Red and the Kids Wings Associates. It comes to you in PowerPoint and PDF for ease and excellence in printing and projection which leaves the fun to you!

The activities for COCKROACH COOTIES include:

* Making Connections, Chapter Discussions for BEFORE and AFTER reading

* Bug Lady's Paradise, A Logic Puzzle

* Putting an End to the Problem

* Observation Station

* Observation Journal

* A Point of View Switcheroo

* The Problem Solver: Problem, Choices, Consequence of Each Choice

* A Deeper Understanding, Multiple Choice Comprehension for Chapters 9 and 10

* Disgusting Math

* The First Chapter of Your Original Sequel

* Using MA'S CAVE SOAP for Sparkling Elaboration (Figurative Language)

* Answers

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PLEASE NOTE: Kids Wings materials are written by highly experienced master teachers. We hire professional proof readers who are also master educators. We do our best to be sure each of our literature guides is top quality and error free, and classroom tested, but if you think we can do better, we welcome your input. If you find an error in our materials, please email us at suzy@suzyred.com so we can make corrections. After it is corrected, we will invite you to download a newly polished copy and will probably attach a surprise to our reply as a thank-you!

If you like our materials, we would be very grateful if you let us and others know!