Reading Aloud: On Voicing Characters that are Determined, Clever, Caring and Sassy

What's your favorite book to read aloud?

Those of you who read my blog (Reading Aloud: Now and Then), will have seen that Flossie and the Fox by Patricia McKissack is one of my favorite books to read and that Flossie is my current favorite character to voice.

Flossie and the Fox is one of three books by Patricia McKissack that I read as part of a third grade author study. The other two are Mirandy and Brother Wind and Goin' Someplace Special. I love the three female protagonists in these stories and I love to share them with students.  These stories have messages of empowerment; include strong, determined and caring female characters; and, promote peace and social justice.  Did I mention that they are fun to read?  

World Read Aloud Day is March 6th

What book will you read

and 

what message do you hope it will deliver?  

Strong, determined, clever, intelligent...they are all there.  

Oh, and so is sassy.  Maybe its the way I read it..

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For the third grade author study, I keep with her picture books, but use Destiny, our OPAC, to show the students how her books exist throughout the collection - picture books, chapter books, biographies, folktales and nonfiction books.  She is an amazingly talented and prolific writer. We also watch the corresponding video clips from Reading Rockets (available through TeachingBooks or PBS Learning Media).  This interview with Patricia and Frederick McKissack is full of incredible wisdom as well as insight into their writing process.