26 Fairmount Avenue (A 26 Fairmount Avenue Book)

26 Fairmount Avenue is a great teaching tool for introducing children to the importance of collecting family histories, beginning with their own. Documenting humorous stories, life changing events, and relationships with family and friends, is a great way to capture memories and the spoken word.

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Everyone has stories to tell and everyone’s lives have importance. The story’s plot revolves around the family’s new home that is under construction. Children will enjoy all the funny events that go wrong as the home is built. A small photo album at the beginning of the story illustrates many of the characters and helps the reader associate names with the illustrated characters as they appear throughout the chapters. The chapters and sentences are short; the typeface is easy to read; and the characters are credible. The book is a 2000 Newbery Honor Book. The story was a fast read and appropriate as a transitional book. Author De Paola’s recount of his early childhood memories provides several curriculum connections for the classroom: the Hurricane of 1938 as a historical event; the construction of a new home; books made into movies; and autobiographies.

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This book is actually an autobiographical book about the childhood life of the author Tomie DePaola. The author recollects events that surrounded his new home being built on 26 Fairmount Avenue. He talks about a hurricane, his first day of school, his daily activities and spending time with his

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family.

I really enjoyed reading this book; the author did an exceptional job of detailing his childhood memories. I especially liked the way he describes in detail how he spends time with his family members, it was so encouraging. Another technique that he used, that was really nice, was his explaining in detail what a word meant, words that are not necessarily used on a day-to-day basis, this I think is a good way for helping the reader understand better, especially for a child reader. The illustrations were fabulous, they were very detailed and superbly drawn, and flowed so well, they gave the feeling of being right there in that moment of time. Since this book is part of a series put out by this author, I look forward to reading more of his writings.

For my class project, I would have my students get into groups and discuss the story among each other. I would have them write down what parts of the story they really liked and why and also list some examples of how they can relate to Tomie in their own lives. They could then share with the rest of the class what they had written, to compare thoughts with the other groups. A fun, hands-on project for this story would be to have the students stay in their groups, and each group construct one of the different scenes from the story using the craft supplies, by building or drawing the particular scene. I would write each scene on a small piece of paper and put them all in a box, and then going group by group, I would draw out which scene that that group would be responsible for constructing. This would be a great way of relating to the excellent, vivid scenes that were given in the story, and it gives each of the students an opportunity to give the scene their own special, creative touch.

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Children's author-illustrator Tomie De Paola describes his experiences at home and in school when he was a boy.

This book was an autobiography of Tomie DePaola's life from 1938-1940. His family was in the process of having their house built on 26 Fairmont Avenue when a hurricane hit. They had many issues while this house was being build. The city would come out and scrap away the dirt and their house kept

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going higher up on a hill. Finally, their house was built and he was very happy. The book also goes through his experiences with his grandma's and going to see Snow White in theatres.

This is a cute book. I loved that when he used a "big" word he would explain what he meant in terms that a child could understand more clearly. I can relate with Tomie when he talked about his grandma's because before I lost my grandma I was very close to her.

In the classroom, I would have a discussion with the students about the difference between a biography and an autobiography. Once they understood the difference, they would write a short autobiography about a year or two of their lives. Also, in the book Tomie drew pictures of his family so I would have the students draw pictures of their family. The pictures wouldn't have to be professional of course but they need to attempt to draw them proportionally and no stick figures.

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This book is the first of a series of novels of the same name. It recounts the life of Tomie DePaola as a young boy and the love and relationships he had with his family. The illustrations of the book are in black and white and add life to the family members described by Tomie throughout the book.

Tomie dePaola's books are usually delightful - This one was just ever so slightly off - maybe because I wanted to know more about the people other than dePaola's immediate family - but the ending was just not very satisfying -- and there are so many loose ends including a school which has to be

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driven to in the 1st chapter but is just down the block in Chapter 5 - Nana upstairs is very important in Chapter Two -- but her death is simply mentioned two chapters later.

I guess the author and editors figured that kids wouldn't pick up on the discrepancies. But when this Nana read it to her grandkids, they absolutely did.

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Many things happened the year Tomie's family built their new house at 26 Fairmount Avenue in Meriden, Connecticut, including the hurricane of 1938 Tomie's first day of school, and his hilarious reaction to the Disney movie Snow White.

Great biography about Tomie DePaola's childhood. He tells sweet stories about growing up in his childhood home and shares memories about his quirky family members. The audiobook is read by him and gives another dimension to his storytelling. Good for grades 2-5.

A great story which is really more of a series of anecdotes. Although it lacks a strong central theme (the house itself mostly remains in the background), the events are amusing enough to make me want to read more about Tomie.

The author/illustrator takes personal stories and anecdotes from his childhood and relates them in a chapter book. This would be a great way to introduce students to the concept of writing about themselves and their experiences.

Summary: Tomie's family starts building their new house at 26 Fairmount Avenue in 1938, just as a hurricane hits town, starting off a busy, crazy year. Tomie has many adventures all his own
Personal Reaction: Great example of writing about your life. Simply written and easy to follow. Focuses on

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family too.
Classroom Extension: A great example of an autobiography. Use this book as a read-aloud to introduce the concept of writing from memories and experiences

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Tomie is a young boy who's family is changing house. This book is a little window into the months preceding the move and all the big things that happen to him and the family.

I like this book because the vocabulary is controlled and the sentences are simple. It's written from the boy's point of view

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so kids may appreciate that. The events are an interesting time-capsule from the 1930s.

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A cute story of a year in the life of the author as a child, when his family was busy trying to build a new home. Fun and funny and sweet, with illustrations to match.

Children's author-illustrator Tomie De Paola describes his experiences at home and in school when he was a boy.

I'm reading this series along with my 9-year-old son and we loved the first one! Such a charming look into Tomie's childhood. Tomie's writing is wonderful as always and offers today's children a view of childhood in another time.

Summary: A story about a little boy about the age of 4 and his family life. The boy and his family were going to move into a new house where the address is 26 Fairmount Avenue. The book talks about the problems the family faced trying to get their new house ready.

Personal Reaction: Life in a

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child’s eyes is different from the way adults see things, Kids find life so fun and exciting especially in events like getting a new house.

Classroom Extension:
1. Tell students to learn their address and quote it aloud to the teacher.
2. Look up information about hurricanes on the internet as a class.

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This is the story of young Tomie as he waits for his new house to be built. The narrative is easy and light, with fun stories told about school, building a new house, family, and grandparents.

This is a great book for upper elementary students to read and a great book for adults to read to younger

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students.

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Reads like Tomie is sitting with a group of children, sharing pieces of his childhood.