Bridge to Terabithia, written by Katherine Paterson and illustrated by Donna Diamond is about a special friendship between a boy and a girl. Jess and Leslie create an imaginary land, Terabithia, where their own wonderful adventures are brought to life. The two friends were from different backgrounds who learned so much from each other. The tragedy in this friendship was the death of one of the characters which left the other character to cope and move on.
Bridge to Terabithia would fall under the fantasy genre. In this book the illustrations allow readers use the writer's idea of similes to enhance their own writing. Motivational activities I would include in a lesson with this book, is how to positively deal with death and fear. For example, readers could discuss with each other how Jess deals with the death of his friend Leslie and categorize those feelings. When dealing with fear, readers could possibly discuss how Jess's friendship with Leslie helps him face his fears.
One positive writing activity that could be included with this book is writing a letter to someone who would be a special friend and include how they have changed their life. Questions I would ask during and/or after each chapter as reading responses are:
1. Why does Jess stand up for Leslie?
2. Why is Terabithia so important to Jess?
3. How would you feel if you were Jesse right now?
This book has so many themes that includes friendship, family, revenge, peer pressure, and death. There is so much that you could learn from reading this book in so many ways both positive and negative depending on the way readers interpret it. I would likely recommend this book for motivation and imagination.
Enjoy!
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