Homework and Peanut butter Sandwiches

By: Lisa Broadie Cook

Illustrated By: Lack E. Davis

Summary: Martin Macgregor is having a terrible time in school when his teacher gets hurt in a mountain climbing accident. Martin is assigned a substitute teacher named Mrs. Payne. One thing that he finds out right away is that Mrs. Payne loves giving out homework. Unfortunately for Martin is that he has bad luck with homework. Monday, his week starts out with a surprise “a substitute” Tuesday, the dog eats it; Wednesday, his washing machine fades it; Thursday, he grabs the wrong knapsack; and Friday, the wind blows it away. One thing that Martin learns this week about Mrs. Payne is that she does not like excuses. A frustrated Martin has to make up his homework at recess everyday but he finally finds a way to make homework fun.

Evaluation by Genre: It is a realistic fiction picture book that centers on a young boys problem in turning in his homework during the course of one week while his teacher is away.

Illustration and Art: The book has vivid colors, cartoon-like exaggerated drawings of their heads and eyes; Mrs. Payne’s has patterned dresses, green specs, and a beehive hairdo that is so large it almost comes off the page. Mrs. Payne’s physical stature is intimidating, stern and uncompromising. Jack E. Davis artwork is funny and whimsical. These bright colors and humorous situation keep readers’ attention as they try to guess the next thing that happen to Martin Macgregor.  

Major Conflict: Martin discovers that Mrs. Payne likes to assign a great deal of homework and accepts absolutely no excuses for not turning it on time.  Second Conflict: Martin does not like the homework that Mrs. Payne assigns to him like spelling and definitions. Martins father suggest he go on the computer and make up his own homework.

Motivational Activities:  I have made up a packet filled with activities during the reading of the book. The packet includes: Coloring, mazes, identifying parts of the tarantula, word search puzzle, crossword puzzle, information and resources on the internet about tarantulas, a page describing where tarantulas come from and how they got their name. Vocabulary words about spiders: abdomen, arachnid, arthropod, burrow, chelicerae, fangs, hairs, insect, legs, pedipalps, silk, spider lings, spinnerets, tarantula, and venom. You as a teacher can have the students look at the front of the book and guess what the story is about. After the book is read then you can have the student write down what they would have done in Martins predicament.

Reader Response Questions: (1) It was Monday; did Martin love to go to school? (2) Who was Harriett? (3) Who had orange hair? (4) What happened to Mr. Elliot? (5) What did Mrs. Payne love to do? (6) What did he say to Sadie the dog? (7) What happened to Martins homework? (8) What did Sadie the dog do? (9) Did Mrs. Payne believe Martin about his homework? (10) What did Martin Learn? (11) What did Martins mother do? (12) Who had the same backpack? (13) What was in the backpack? (14) Who was Samuel Hall and what did he say to Martin? (15) What happened to Martin and Samuel Hall? (16) What did Samuel Hall do at lunch time? (17) What made the definitions fly away? (18) How many pages did Martin have to re-do? (19) What did Martins father suggest? (20) What happened when Mr. Elliot came back?

About the author: Lisa Broadie Cook is a second-grade teacher who has heard every excuse in the book about homework over the years.   Reading and books have always been an important part of her life. Growing up, her mom was the librarian at her elementary school and she credits her mom for showing her the joy of books. Always a reader, writing came later for Lisa. Lisa is an animal lover and always puts her real life pets in the books. Lisa lives in Iowa with her husband and two children.

About the Illustrator: It could be said that Jack became an artist when his boss’s car blew up. He was working as a manager for a small printing company in his native Nebraska; he drew a cartoon of the disaster. His talent was noticed and he became a designer and senior art director for a local agency, but eventually left to pursue his career as a freelance illustrator. He is self-trained; he works with acrylics and pencil. Most of his illustrations are in color and black and white. Much of his work conveys humor. His style is mostly cartooning, with graphic sophistication in form, line, light, and shadows. Jack currently lives in Port Townsend, Washington.  

Personal Comments: I saw this book in Barns and Noble and I knew I had to have it. I noticed while being a teacher’s aid, that the children kept coming in the morning with loads of excuses about their homework. I wanted to reach the children in a funny way. As I let them look at the front of the book with the title covered they thought the book was about a dog, a boy, and a woman that was mad. I unveiled the title and asked them has anyone ever had problems with their homework? All raised their hands and started to look at each other. As I read the book they laughed and laughed. At the end I has them do some fun activities and by the next week the teacher told me the book helped; the children were bring in their homework and as they handed it to the teacher sometimes they would giggle. If you are a teacher and want to become a teacher I suggest that you buy a copy and keep it on your library shelf. When a child had an excuse on why they did not have their home, you can tell them to read the book.  

Note to Reader: Whether in board book form or typical picture book format, stories for young children should have a simple plot line, it should be about familiar childhood experiences, and contain clear illustration (Literature and the Child, pg. 111).

Core Value of Respect: With children they learn by example. Martin had many obstacles he had to overcome. Even though he did not lie about what happened to his homework; he respected the decision of Mrs. Payne. He showed great respect for his teacher and his self. In an activity to show respect you can ask them to write a respectful letter to Mrs. Payne explaining what happened to your homework. You can put the children into groups where they can exchange their letters and see if the letter was respectful to Mrs. Payne.  By learning respect and incorporating it into their daily lives it will show them when they get older to work harmoniously with others.  

Cited

Whitman Galda, Lee, Bernice E. Cullinan, and Lawrence R. Sipe. "Literature and the Child." , 7th Edition by Lee Galda, Bernice E. Cullinan, Lawrence R. Sipe (9780495602392). Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, n.d. &, 1998. Print.

 Cook, Lisa Broadie. Peanut Butter and Homework Sandwiches. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2011. Print.