I Wish I Had Freckles Like Abby
Written
by
Kathryn Heling and
Deborah Hembrook
Illustrated by
Bonnie Adamson
(Raven Tree Press, 2007)
Book Description
“This is an absolutely delightful story that captures the essence of the common childhood desire to be just like your best friend. In this book the main character, Rosa, not only wishes she had freckles like her friend Abby but tries to make them herself but it never quite works out the way she expects...”
Amazon Customer Review by Harold McFarland
Rosa thinks Abby’s freckles are beautiful! Rosa will do almost anything to have freckles like her best friend.
What makes your best friend special?
Purchase I Wish I Had Freckles Like Abby at Amazon.com >>
(Book available in both bilingual and English-only versions.)
I WISH I HAD FRECKLES
LIKE ABBY
Extension Activities for Educators and Families
MATH
Freckle Games — Introduce variations of domino and dice games, but link them to the book by calling them Freckle Dice and Freckle Dominos.
Freckle Face — Draw an outline of a face on paper. Younger children choose a number card and add that number of freckles to the face (with chocolate chips, small tokens, etc.)
Older children choose an equation card, solve the equation, and add the correct number of freckles to the face.
Have children work in teams — one team member puts a number of freckles on a blank face. The other student creates a mathematical equation that incorporates the total number of freckles indicated.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Animal Spots —
Students research and write a report on an animal, fish, or insect of their choice that has spots. What purpose do the spots serve? (crossover with Science)
Pen Pal — Write a poem or greeting card about friendship and/or exchange letters with a pen pal.
En Espanol — Practice reading aloud the Spanish/English vocabulary lists at the end of the bilingual version of I Wish I Had Freckles Like Abby. How many new words can you learn?
SOCIAL STUDIES
All About Me — Create an ALL ABOUT ME poster, including things such as a self-portrait, favorite things to do, information about your family, things you're good at, and three wishes.
I Wish Game — Write one wish on a slip of paper. Put all slips in a wish box, and each day read one of the wishes. Guess who the wish might belong to.
Chain of Compliments — Rosa is Abby’s best friend. She thinks Abby’s freckles make her look beautiful. What is something that you really like about your friend? Write a compliment to that friend on a strip of paper. Create a paper chain of compliments to and from each other. Drape the chain around the room.
ART
Spot Art — Draw a picture or make a model of the animal selected for the spotted animal report (see Language Arts).
Younger children — make a self-portrait and add freckles. Tell (or write) what you think about how you look with freckles.
SCIENCE
See research report idea under Language Arts.
Freckle Facts — Research the answers to these questions:
Are babies born with freckles?
Why do only some people have freckles?
OTHER IDEAS
Start with the basic recipe for Rosa’s Chocolate Freckle Pudding:
1 small box (3.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding
1 ¾ cup milk
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
1 Tbsp. warm tap waterIn small bowl, mix together the peanut butter and warm water until the mixture is smooth. Add a tiny bit more water if needed. Put the milk in a medium-sized bowl. Add the instant chocolate mix and the peanut butter mixture. Pour the pudding into 4 small dishes. Wait 5 minutes to let the pudding set before eating.
Makes 4 servings.
Have students determine how the recipe would change if they were making pudding for 8 people; for 12; for 2, etc. (crossover with Math)
