Mem Fox's Harriet

I have chosen this book for my 10 books to use as the crown molding in my classroom for Writer's and Reader's Workshop. Before purchasing this book I knew nothing about it. I chose it because I know Mem Fox and I know children love a character that is constantly getting into mischief, like Harriet! I recently received the book and was not disappointed by Mem Fox. Here are some teaching points that jumped out at me from the first read:

1. Tons of repetition, in fact the text builds upon the repetition. Students will love this!

2. There are italicised words in the book, quotation marks, and commas. This helps with fluency, grammar, and teaching students the fine art of leaving your reader hanging during writing.
3. Time order words help you know that throughout the day Harriet drives her mother wild!!!!
Here they are: At, Before, Later.

4. The language of the mother vs. the language of Harriet really shows the age difference. It also shows that Harriet is not that old.

One last tidbit: I made a self connection when reading this book because of my "Harriet." She is four, and yes, she drives me wild!!!! She also loved hearing this book read to her, she can relate.