Thursday, December 6, 2012

The stranger by Chris Van Allsburg

If you have not seen books by Chris Van Allsburg run into your library and grab some you will be richly rewarded.  It is difficult to pick a favourite but I think The stranger might be the book I love best out of all his  wonderful titles.  You might already know Jumanji, The Polar Express or The mysteries of Harris Burdick.

The stranger is set on a farm and just as Summer is ending and Fall is about to begin Farmer Bailey's car hits a man on the road. The man is not hurt but Farmer Bailey takes him home. The Doctor explains the man seems to have lost his memory and then comes the first clue in the puzzle. The doctor says his thermometer is broken - the mercury is stuck at the bottom.  The family lend the stranger some clothes although he is confused about buttons and while they all eat soup that evening the room seems unusually chilly.  Are you making sense of these clues?  The stranger stays with the family for nearly a month and Farmer Bailey notices that while the surrounding countryside is changing colour the tress on his farm remain green.

Here are a set of teaching notes and a wordless trailer.


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