Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble was written by and illustrated William Steig.  The story is about a donkey who loves to collect rocks.  While out on a walk one day he finds a extraordinary flaming red rock.  Much to his surprise, the rock grants wishes.  As the donkey was heading home, he happened upon a lion who wants to eat him.  He makes a bad wish and is transformed into a rock.  He stays that way through many seasons until one day when his parents come to picnic on him, as the rock, and they see the red rock and the donkey is transformed back into himself and everyone lives happily ever after with the rock safely tucked away from the world.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is a good example of a fantasy story.  According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 16, it explains that fantasy books are imaginative literature distinguished by characters, places, or events that could not happen in real life.  In fantasy stories, animals can talk and act and dress like humans.  The illustrations in this book are very vibrant and colorful.  The illustrations bring the story to life.  The facial expressions are very expressive throughout the whole book and the illustrations draw you into the story.

This book is recommended for ages 3 and up.  I would agree with this recommendation.  The story is very easy to understand.  The moral of the story is very easy to realize.  I think children of all ages will enjoy this book.  I would suggest the following activities to be included when studying this book:

1.  Give each of your students a red rock or marble.  Have them close their eyes and pretend that the red rock or marble is a magical rock.  Depending on the age group, have the children open their eyes and write or draw one or two things they would wish for and why.

2.  Have children write down their own wish and put these wishes into a hat, then have each child pick a paper and guess whose wish it was.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:
1.  If you were Sylvester and you saw the lion approaching, how would you have used the magic pebble to help you?

2.  How will Sylvester’s life, after his experience in this story, be different?

3.  What was the problem in the story and how was it resolved?

REFERENCES:

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.

Steig, W. (1987). Sylvester and the magic pebble. New York City, NY: Aladdin Books.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble book club guide.  Retrieved from http://lanairoad.org/files/Download/SylvesterandMagicPebble%282ndgrade%29.pdf.