This year, our character/series reading unit corresponded with our "Authors as Mentors" writing unit, so we were able to use Kevin Henkes books as mentor texts for both! In reading, I relied heavily on the Lilly books, including Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Lilly's Big Day, Julius, the Baby of the World, Chester's Way, and Lilly's Chocolate Heart. Lilly is a complex character so she is great to consider across texts.
As I read each book aloud, the kiddos worked to identify Lilly's likes and dislikes, emotions, and traits. We noticed how many of her traits carried across multiple books. For instance, Lilly demonstrates loyalty when she defends Chester and Wilson in Chester's Way, and when she stands up for Julius in Julius, Baby of the World. Lilly is jealous of Julius in Baby of the World, and she's jealous of Ginger in Lilly's Big Day. The kiddos recorded their own observations on this cute worksheet and then practiced identifying other characters' emotions and traits in their own books.
The kiddos really loved the Lilly books! Toward the end of the unit, after we had read each of the Lilly books, we took a vote on our favorite Lilly book. Lilly's Big Day was the big winner, but Chester's Way was the 2nd most popular among my avid readers. I'm hoping to incorporate more graphing in to our thematic reading/writing units in the future!
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