Have You Lost Your Marble?

While walking through her neighborhood, Penny finds a shiny blue marble in the neighbor’s yard. She takes it home, but is the marble really hers? Penny and Her Marble, 2014 Theodore Seuss Geisel Award Honor book and CPL Best of the Best pick for 2013, is the featured book for February’s Family Activity.

Explore the book further by sharing these questions and activities with your family:

  • Penny images herself in different places. Do you ever pretend? What types of things do you pretend to do?
  • Penny finds something that doesn’t really belong to her, what would you do if you found something that belonged to someone else?
  • How does Penny feel after she takes the marble home and then sees her neighbor Mrs. Goodwin? Why can’t she stop thinking about the marble?
  • What happens after she takes the marble back to where it belongs?
  • What do you worry about?
  • Marbles are fun to play with. Try this art project from Crayola or make a roller coaster from the Museum of Science and Industry or just get a group of friends together to play marbles.
  • Penny uses a simile to describe her marble: “The marble was so blue it looked like a piece of the sky.” What two things can you compare using “like” or “as”. Try making a collage or drawing of your simile.
  • Explore additional activities on Kevin Henkes' website.

Try these other fun activities related to Penny and Her Marble.

Bookamania is made possible by a generous grant from Target Corporation through the Chicago Public Library Foundation.