Missing Marvin by Sue deGennaro

Missing Marvin by Sue deGennaro

Marvin didn’t budge from his bed. He was hoping the problem would disappear if he hid away long enough. But it didn’t disappear.

Bullying takes place in many forms and sometimes the bully might not realise how much damage they are doing especially if they think they are just having ‘fun’
Missing Marvin explores this type of bullying – one which may seem harmless , but really it is terribly harmful.
Marvin works with his friends at Baggage Handlers United and every day they play jokes on him. At first Marvin doesn’t mind but when they become more often and more hurtful, he doesn’t come back to work.

His friends at first have no idea why he isn’t at work anymore but slowly and surely they realise – jokes just aren’t the same when there is no one to play them on AND jokes are pretty bad when you it’s on you.

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Missing Marvin
Luckily Marvin musters up the courage to return to work and speak to his friends about how he is feeling. And luckily his friends listen to him and change their ways.

Missing Marving by Sue deGennaro is an excellent book to read to children of any age as it helps them to see that playing jokes on someone can be very harmful. Children can also see that being able to have courage to not let these things get you down is important.
We need to build resilience in our children for the times when parents and teachers can’t intervene . We need to teach them to move away from those bullies, talk to them or someone who can make them stop.
Bullying is a much more complex issue these days with so much of it happening online but by reading stories like these we can start to empower our children.
If children are aware of how harmful jokes can be and learn to be aware of other people’s feelings while they are young then perhaps the online bullying may never occur.
So what else can you do with this book?

  • Talk about bullying and the different ways it happens in your school.
  • Draw pictures and write words about how you feel when you have bullied someone or been bullied.
  • Explore pathways to take if you need to stop bullying happening in your school. Explore the school policy as part of this exercise.

EXPLORE THE PICTURE BOOK

  • What sort of jokes were played on Marvin and how did each one effect him?
  • Why has this book been written with animals instead of people?
  • There is a lot of blue in the illustrations – do you think this might mean anything?
  • Look at the pictures on Marvin’s wall – what do they represent?

 

Testimonials – Jack and Jill Kindergarten, Berowra.

Testimonials - Jack and Jill Kindergarten, Berowra.

Thanks so much Vanessa for coming out and sharing your book “The Bee Detectives” with our children 3-5 years old. The experience allowed them to learn so much more about Bees. We have had our native Bees for several years and had beekeepers out before. Your book took an in-depth look into classification, different ways they live, how they collect pollen and make honey.  It created lots of meaningful conversation with the children; your interactive book reading allowed them to share these ideas with each other. The extended activity afterwards of the magnifiers provided by Vanessa was a great extension to the book. The children were so excited to be their very own Bee detectives and really extended their learning.
Vanessa Ryan-Rendall
2021-05-17T03:33:47+00:00
Testimonials - Jack and Jill Kindergarten, Berowra. Thanks so much Vanessa for coming out and sharing your book “The Bee Detectives” with our children 3-5 years old. The experience allowed them to learn so much more about Bees. We have had our native Bees for several years and had beekeepers out before. Your book took an in-depth look into classification, different ways they live, how they collect pollen and make honey.  It created lots of meaningful conversation with the children; your interactive book reading allowed them to share these ideas with each other. The extended activity afterwards of the magnifiers provided by Vanessa was a great extension to the book. The children were so excited to be their very own Bee detectives and really extended their learning.

Author Visit: Jack and Jill Kindergarten Berowra

Thanks so much Vanessa for coming out and sharing your book “The Bee Detectives” with our children 3-5 years old. The experience allowed them to learn so much more about Bees. We have had our native Bees for several years and had beekeepers out before. Your book took an in-depth look into classification, different ways they live, how they collect pollen and make honey.  It created lots of meaningful conversation with the children; your interactive book reading allowed them to share these ideas with each other. The extended activity afterwards of the magnifiers provided by Vanessa was a great extension to the book. The children were so excited to be their very own Bee detectives and really extended their learning. 
Teacher notes written by Vanessa
2021-04-21T02:54:08+00:00
Thanks so much Vanessa for coming out and sharing your book “The Bee Detectives” with our children 3-5 years old. The experience allowed them to learn so much more about Bees. We have had our native Bees for several years and had beekeepers out before. Your book took an in-depth look into classification, different ways they live, how they collect pollen and make honey.  It created lots of meaningful conversation with the children; your interactive book reading allowed them to share these ideas with each other. The extended activity afterwards of the magnifiers provided by Vanessa was a great extension to the book. The children were so excited to be their very own Bee detectives and really extended their learning. 

Georgie Donaghey

I was impressed with Vanessa’s professionalism in preparing the teacher notes for my picture book, In the Shadow of an Elephant. Her depth of knowledge on the multitude of topics covered was just incredible! She has compiled a 15-page document that will allow Educators and students an opportunity to explore conversations and discover different layers within the book. Georgie Donaghey
Teacher notes written by Vanessa
2020-08-01T07:42:45+00:00
I was impressed with Vanessa’s professionalism in preparing the teacher notes for my picture book, In the Shadow of an Elephant. Her depth of knowledge on the multitude of topics covered was just incredible! She has compiled a 15-page document that will allow Educators and students an opportunity to explore conversations and discover different layers within the book. Georgie Donaghey