King of the Playground 

 By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Illustrated by Nola Langner Malone

A fun book to read and form opinions on how Kevin should deal with Sammy, the bully at the playground.

Book Talk

Kevin happily goes off to the playground to play everyday—only to return quickly! Dad asks him every day why he has returned—only to hear the same answer—Sammy at the playground will not let Kevin play there.

Dad wisely talks Kevin through the situation each time to help Kevin come up with some solutions that he can handle dealing with himself.

And each time, Kevin again goes off to the playground only to return to discuss the situation with Dad.

Finally, Kevin stays at the playground and answers back to Sammy’s threats.  This seems to surprise Sammy and a game of ‘one-up-man-ship’ begins.  Soon the negative tension seems to dissipate and the verbal back-and-forth becomes fun between the two boys. 

Favorite lines from this part of the book:

“Kevin slowly walked over. ‘You can’t play here!’ Sammy yelled when he saw him. ‘I’m the King of the Sandbox!’ Kevin put one foot in the sandbox. ‘Go home!’ yelled Sammy, even louder. ‘If you try to play here, I’ll put you in a cage with bears in it.’ Kevin put his other foot in the sandbox. ‘Then I’ll ride on their backs and teach them tricks,’ Kevin said.”

In the end, they are still verbally going at it, but they are working together in the sandbox and having a great time together!

Suggested Uses as a Mentor Text:

Book Genre: Realistic Fiction

Reading Workshop strategies: Predicting, Inferring, Connecting

Writing Workshop genre: Narrative, Small Moment

Curricular Themes: Character Ed (treating each other kindly, sharing)

A bio of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor: http://www.eduplace.com/kids/tnc/mtai/naylor.html