How Long Is Forever? & The Whole Book Approach
By Kelly Carey
How Long Is Forever? is celebrating its book birthday today and I’m thrilled to make my author debut alongside debut illustrator Qing Zhuang.
In How Long is Forever?, Mason is waiting for the first blueberry pie of the season and it’s taking forever. At least that’s what Mason thinks, until Grandpa asks him to prove it and sends Mason searching the family farm to find the meaning of forever.
You could pick up a copy of the book, read, enjoy, and hopefully re-read. But I thought I’d give you a recipe for sharing the book that will create a more rounded experience. I’m using the Whole Book Approach developed by Megan Dowd Lambert and presented in her book Reading Picture Books with Children: How to Shake Up Storytime and Get Kids Talking about What They See (Charlesbridge, 2015). Lambert explains that the Whole Book Approach is a “means of reading with children, as opposed to reading to them, as it invites children to make meaning of text, art, and design.”
Let’s apply this method to How Long Is Forever? and get the most out of sharing it with children.
Pre-Reading
Looking only at the cover, ask children what they can know about the story just from the cover. Will this story take place in outer space? On a coral reef in the ocean? Or on a farm with rolling hills? When they tell you a farm, ask them how they know!
Then ask if the children already know two characters in the story just from the cover. How do those characters feel? Are they happy, sad or mad? How do they know?
Finally, invite children to think about the title and share a time when they had to “wait forever” for something. Ask, “What is something that takes forever?” Maybe it was a sibling’s dance recital? How long it took to drive to a vacation? How long it took for mom to finish errands so they could go home and eat lunch!
When they read How Long Is Forever? they’ll find out what Mason thinks is taking forever!
During Reading
Show children the barn cat on the back cover of the book.
Tell them that the cat wanders through the whole story. When they spot the cat, invite the children to use their hands to make cat ears on their heads to let you know they see the cat. This is a fun way to make every page a game for children.
After Reading
When you’ve finished reading the book, ask children what Mason thought was taking forever at the beginning of the book and what he decides is forever at the end of the book. It’s a great idea to invite children to flip through the book and let the pictures help them remember.
Now invite children to talk about what is forever in their life. Start small. What color will they love forever? Do they have a favorite food they think they will love forever? How about a place or a person? Share your forever things too!
You can use the following activity pages to have fun thinking about what the Barn Cat will love forever and for children to share what they will love forever. For even more activity pages click here.
Click to expand
When you are done reading, you can offer one of the blueberry themed crafts below or make your own blueberry dessert. You’ll find recipes at www.kcareywrites.
Whether you just want to snuggle in and read How Long Is Forever? or experience it using the Whole Book Approach, Qing and I hope it is a book you will love and share forever.
Blueberry Pie Crafts:
Slice of Pie:
Supplies:
Piece of Pie coloring page
blue paint
pencil with eraser or Q-tip (or blue construction paper dots and a glue stick if you prefer not to use paint)
small paper plate
Print Piece of Pie coloring page.
Put a small amount of blue paint on the paper plate (or a few paper dots and give each child a glue stick).
Use the Q-tip like a stamp. Dip it in the paint and make “blueberry” dots on your piece of pie (or paste blue dots on the pie).
Blueberry Pie:
Supplies:
paper plate or brown construction paper cut into a circle shape
strips of manila-colored construction paper
blue paint or blue tissue paper or small blue construction-paper dots
glue sticks
Glue manila strips onto the brown circle to mimic the lattice of a pie crust.
Fill the pie in with blueberries by using your fingers and blue paint or by gluing rolled bundles of blue tissue paper or gluing blue construction paper dots.
An adult can assist in cutting excess strips (pie dough) off the pie.
Optional: Print a blueberry recipe to glue on the back. Recipes can be found at www.kcareywrites.com. Children can also draw a picture of three things they will love forever on the back of their pie.
Book Details
HOW LONG IS FOREVER?
by Kelly Carey
Illus. by Qing Zhuang
Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN:
978-1-5808-9578-1
Publisher: Charlesbridge
The Silver Unicorn Bookstore.
Kelly Carey, the debut author of HOW LONG IS FOREVER?, is an award-winning writer from New England. Her fiction stories have appeared in Clubhouse Jr., Highlights for Children, and Girls’ World. She is the 2008, 2009, and 2015 recipient of the Higher Goals Award from the Evangelical Press Association. When not writing in her pajamas, Kelly is happiest hiking a New Hampshire mountain or hitting the beach on Martha’s Vineyard. She is the proud co-founder of 24 Carrot Writing (www.24carrotwriting.com).
Follow author Kelly Carey:
Website: www.kcareywrites.com
Twitter: @KCareyWrites
Facebook: www.facebook.com/KCareyWrites
Qing Zhuang was born in a coastal province in China, where her mother lovingly nicknamed her “Strange Sea Creature.” She moved to the United States and grew up in New York City, where she still resides. Qing specializes in watercolor illustrations but loves to experiment artistically all the time. She puts all her heart and a little humor in everything she does. Her first book is HOW LONG IS FOREVER?
Follow illustrator Qing Zhuang:
Website: www.qingthings.com
Instagram: @Qingthings