Not only does Creech seamlessly intersperse prose and poetry, but the design manipulates typeface, font, setting, and spacing to paint word-pictures, in some instances creating concrete poetry while in others emphasizing a few words on the page-an accentuation that makes the story come alive and deftly communicates the range of emotions, from humor to sorrow, that the story conveys. The book’s playful use of words sets this novel apart.

Falala to draw, and Reena is preparing to show Zora at the upcoming fair. Falala, an elderly and ostensibly cantankerous woman whose menagerie of animals includes a pig named Paulie, a cat named China, a snake named Edna, and the ornery, stubborn, slobbering, bellowing cow, Zora. Reena and her brother, Luke, “a seven-year-old complexity,” are volunteered by their mother to help Mrs. When 12-year-old Reena’s parents lose their newspaper jobs in the big city, they decide to change the flight plan of their lives and move to a small coastal town in Maine. Tractor, flowers, and farmhouse near Brunswick, Maine: Carol M.Newbery Medalist Creech touches on themes of loss, friendship, and belonging in this appealing tale of a young girl’s unlikely relationship with Zora, an enormous belted Galloway. How are they similar? How are they different?

Compare and contrast the setting of this book to where you live.

How and why is the setting an important part of this story? How would the story be different if the setting was elsewhere?.

Falala’s house and farm in the book and what you see in this image.

Make connections to the description of Mrs.

Highsmith from her collection of photographs of America available at the Library of Congress. For this primary source pairing, invite students to take a close look at a farmhouse in Maine as photographed by Carol M. The difference between NYC and a northern Maine harbor town is vast – the sounds, the smells, the freedom. Reena and her family move from New York City to rural Maine. Falala’s house and farm, are so important to the story it is as if they are characters themselves.

The setting of this book, including both the state of Maine and Mrs. Falala, who has a pig named Paulie, a cat named China, a snake named Edna–and that stubborn cow, Zora. Instead, her parents “volunteer” Reena and Luke to work for an eccentric neighbor named Mrs. She’s ready for beaches, blueberries, and all the lobster she can eat. When Reena, her little brother, Luke, and their parents first move to Maine, Reena doesn’t know what to expect. Tractor, flowers, and farmhouse near Brunswick, Maine.

Moo creech