Poppy

 Poppy, By Avi

I first read Poppy in 3rd grade, but reading it a second time around, I understood it so much more than I did the first time. This is the intense story about a little mouse named Poppy. Her and her mouse friends have a sort of deal with an owl named Mr. Ocax; that is, if he protects Poppy and her friends from the porcupines, they must obey his every demand. One night, the free-spirited, daring Poppy and her fiance Ragweed decide to venture out to Bannock Hill, Ragweed is eaten by Mr. Ocax! Poppy and her family want to ask Mr. Ocax for permission to leave their site and find a better life at a place called "New House." When she asks, he of course says no, but this triggers Poppy's curiosity and she decides to take matters into her own hands. She leaves her current home and on her journey, she meets a porcupine who agrees to help keep Poppy protected from Mr. Ocax if he comes to search for her. The story ends with brave little Poppy fighting for her life against Mr. Ocax after she completes her adventure and discovers "New House."

When this story was read to me as a child, I remember being drawn into it and being so consumed by the clever writing of Avi, and being so proud of brave little Poppy. Needless to say, we were read this story while we were doing a unit on owl pellets, so it fit in with our science activity but I can remember this story to this day. If I were to use it in my classroom someday, I would make sure to link it to a cross curriculum activity. I think that is something that really makes incredible stories and classroom experiences even more memorable; when students have other learning happening that relates to a great book, their minds are connected to what they are learning that much more. Since intriguing my students and holding their interest in my classroom is so important to me as an individual teacher, I want to make sure that everything I do has a purpose, and that every piece of literature I select or recommend to my students has a meaning. This might mean putting a number of other books by the same author or about the same topic in our class library, or having students fill out recommendation sheets about books they would encourage their classmates to read. My students are going to have a great deal of say in their own learning, and I am going to make sure that I do my best to balance their ideas with my ideas.