Book Activity: Katie and the Sunflowers <back to lessons
Materials:
- Katie and the Sunflowers by James Mayhew
- Paper and pencil
Take turns reading aloud and showing the pictures in Katie and the Sunflowers by James Mayhew.
Do you enjoy going to art museums? Why or why not?
Why do you think Katie liked to go to art museums?
What made Katie want to touch the sunflowers in The Sunflowers painting by Vincent van Gogh?
She liked to work in the garden and thought the sunflowers looked just like they had seeds in them for her to plant.
What stage of growth were many of the sunflowers in?
Ripe, ready to harvest What was the evidence that brought you to that conclusion? The flowers were brown and crunchy, you could see the seeds, and when the sunflowers fell to the floor the seeds fell all over the floor.
How come only one of the Breton Girls were willing to help Katie clean up her mess?
The other two were dancing in the picture titled Breton Girls Dancing by Paul Gauguin.
What do you think attracted ZaZou the dog to snatch up the sunflowers and run off?
Possible answers include they were bright and colorful, the stems reminded him of sticks, he just wanted to play, he wanted to play tug of war, he wanted attention.
Vincent van Gogh, Café Terrace at Night (1888)
Describe what happened in another one of Vincent van Gogh's paintings titled Café Terrace at Night.
Zazou ran through the café knocking things over and tripping the waiters, making them upset.
How can you tell that the Cafe Terrace at Night was painted by Vincent van Gogh?
His brush strokes, bright colors, and night skies might help to identify his paintings.
What happened to make Paul Cezanne's Still Life with Apples and Oranges not very "still"?
Katie and Mimi pulled the tablecloth so that all the apples and oranges rolled out of the painting and tripped the waiter from the previous painting.
What made ZaZou drop the sunflowers?
The red dog in the Tahitian Pastorals by Paul Gauguin.
What valuable things did Katie and Mimi learn in the Tahitian painting?
It's hot in Tahita. It is an island. It had treasure but the people there didn't want it because they had everything they needed. Katie probably realized she could use some of the treasure to clean up the messes she made in the other museum paintings.
What would the sunflowers really look like after they had been through all those exciting places?
The stems would probably be broken, most of the seeds would have fallen off, petals and leaves would be bent, broken, or fallen off. The flowers might have looked wilted because the color had changes and they were drooping.
What does Katie like about the rain?
She can go to the museum and rain makes the garden grow.
What did the three artists have in common?
Possible answers include they all lived and painted about the same time during the late 1800's; they were postimpressionistic painters that used thick strokes of strong colors in paintings about contemporary life and how they felt about it; they all became very famous male artists with their paintings still on display in museums and galleries around the world.
It would be impossible to make the paintings in an art museum come to life like Katie did, so what can you do to make a trip to an art museum interesting and fun?
Have the students come up with ideas. You might want to generate questions that would make something about the artwork come to life. Take the questions to a local gallery or museum and see if you can figure out the answers to some of the questions. Also see if the paintings bring up more questions.
Zazou ran through the café knocking things over and tripping the waiters, making them upset.
How can you tell that the Cafe Terrace at Night was painted by Vincent van Gogh?
His brush strokes, bright colors, and night skies might help to identify his paintings.
What happened to make Paul Cezanne's Still Life with Apples and Oranges not very "still"?
Katie and Mimi pulled the tablecloth so that all the apples and oranges rolled out of the painting and tripped the waiter from the previous painting.
What made ZaZou drop the sunflowers?
The red dog in the Tahitian Pastorals by Paul Gauguin.
What valuable things did Katie and Mimi learn in the Tahitian painting?
It's hot in Tahita. It is an island. It had treasure but the people there didn't want it because they had everything they needed. Katie probably realized she could use some of the treasure to clean up the messes she made in the other museum paintings.
What would the sunflowers really look like after they had been through all those exciting places?
The stems would probably be broken, most of the seeds would have fallen off, petals and leaves would be bent, broken, or fallen off. The flowers might have looked wilted because the color had changes and they were drooping.
What does Katie like about the rain?
She can go to the museum and rain makes the garden grow.
What did the three artists have in common?
Possible answers include they all lived and painted about the same time during the late 1800's; they were postimpressionistic painters that used thick strokes of strong colors in paintings about contemporary life and how they felt about it; they all became very famous male artists with their paintings still on display in museums and galleries around the world.
It would be impossible to make the paintings in an art museum come to life like Katie did, so what can you do to make a trip to an art museum interesting and fun?
Have the students come up with ideas. You might want to generate questions that would make something about the artwork come to life. Take the questions to a local gallery or museum and see if you can figure out the answers to some of the questions. Also see if the paintings bring up more questions.
