The Water Horse by Dick King-Smith

RL 5.4

This is the story of eight-year-old Kirstie, who lives in Scotland in 1930. When the egg hatches into an unusual sea creature, Kirstie and her family must decide what to do with Crusoe. This take on the origins of the Loch Ness monster is an easy-to-read story that kids will love. It’s a great read aloud, and with the movie coming out on Christmas day, it is sure to be a hit with our students.

Cindy’s Two-Cents Worth:

My mom gave Corey this book when he was in first grade, and he just loved it. It is a very accessible chapter book for kids who seem to be intimidated by anything that is not a picture book. Because our students seem to be so fascinated by monsters such as Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster (these books are always checked out of the library), I think they will really enjoy this story. It doesn’t hurt that there is a movie adaptation on its way. Even though the reading level says 5.4, I think it is much easier than that.

Online Resources

Dick King-Smith Author Website
http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/dickkingsmith/ 

The Water Horse Teaching Resources
http://www.walden.com/walden/teach/water/index.php 

The Water Horse Movie Website
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thewaterhorse/ 

The Legend of Nessie
http://www.nessie.co.uk/index.html 

The Beast of Loch Ness
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lochness/

Patricia Reilly Giff’s novel, Picture of Hollis Woods (a Mark Twain Award nominee two years ago), has been made into a TV movie that will air tonight on CBS at 8:00 p.m. central time. The book was a great story, and I am hopeful that the movie will be good. It is a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, and those are usually very well done. I know this is kind of last minute, but hopefully some of you will be able to catch the show.  There are some teacher resources on the Hallmark Hall of Fame website. If you get to watch it, let me know what you think.

Cindy, your recouperating library lady