Flora and Ulysses

Written by Kate DiCamillo
Illustrated by K.G. Campbell
Copyright ©2013
Published by Candlewick Press
DiCamillo, Kate, and K. G. Campbell. Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures. Print

Awards: 2014 Newbery Medal Winner

When a self-proclaimed cynic meets an unassuming squirrel neither of them know what to expect. After cycling through an industrial vacuum cleaner the unassuming squirrel finds he has super powers. Together Flora and Ulysses find out what being a hero really means. 

Genre: Fiction, humor, graphic novel

Suggested Delivery: Independent, partner, or small group reading. 

Words/Phrases to describe the book: witty, funny, vocabulary, friendship, holy bagumba!

Vocabulary:
Cynic: a person who believes that people are motivated purely by self-interest rather than acting for honorable or unselfish reasons
Defiance:open resistance; bold disobedience.
Malfeasance: wrongdoing
Mundane:lacking interest or excitement; dull.
Disdain:the feeling that someone or something is unworthy of one's consideration or respect; contempt.
Positing: assume as a fact; put forward as a basis of argument
Hyperbole: exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
Obfuscation: Render obscure, unclear, or unintelligible:
Surreptitious: kept secret, especially because it would not be approved of.
Euphemism: a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.

This book is bursting with rich vocabulary.
www.wordle.net is a website where students can create vocabulary word clouds for free. You can emphasize key vocabulary words and meanings and word families to get creative.
Having a student choose one or more vocabulary words to define, study, and share will not only help their own vocabulary, but if they can teach the word to other students it will improve the class vocabulary.



A Conversation With The Author
This link above takes you to a Q and A with author Kate DiCamillo on her inspiration for the book. Before reading students can read this interview to understand the author's point of view. Here is a video interview with Kate DiCamillo to support any accommodations needed. Read or watched finding out the inspiration of the book is a great way to hook students.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQymCUPGl0Q

Before, During and After Reading Activities:

Before reading students can take a title and picture walk. Flora and Ulysses uses comic strips to show the heroic acts performed by Ulysses the squirrel. Students can form predictions based on the pictures.

During reading students can identify and fine unknown vocabulary words to enhance comprehension.

After reading
Students can write poetry. Ulysses the squirrel has a love of writing poetry. After reading Flora and Ulysses students can write poems from a squirrels point of view and share them with the class.