PPBF: Mogie - The Heart Of The House

First, an update about our Sweets For The Soldiers campaign:

Forty boxes of homemade goodies and treats are shipping out this morning en route to sixteen different deployed servicemen and women around the world who won't be home for the holidays, along with heartwarming notes like this one.

I just love that this writer gives her soldier credit for her safe feelings. And if my heart weren't happy enough, this morning I get to start the day with my friend Jennifer down the road at Southside Elementary in Angleton for their National Schools of Character celebration. We're on the agenda right after the AHS cheerleaders; I'm so eager to dance the Six Pillar Shuffle with those superheroes. And, I've got just the right PPBF to launch us into our

 Thanksgiving break week off.

Title: Mogie - The Heart Of The House

Author: Kathi Appelt

Illustrator: Marc Rosenthal

Publisher: Anheneum Books For Young Readers

Date: June 10, 2014

Suitable for: ages 4 - 8

Realistic fiction

Themes: compassion, friendship, empathy

Brief synopsis: Mogie is a Labradoodle who makes his way into the Ronald McDonald house in Houston to befriend and ultimately help restore mojo to a sick boy named Gabe.

Opening page:  There once was a very special house in the middle of a big city.

Resources: 

Visit the book's website {here}.

Read a Kirkus review {here}.

Watch the book's trailer on You Tube:

Why I like this book:  An adorable, active pup, a sick child, a charitable organization like the Ronald McDonald House ... what's not to like? Meet the real Mogie. This story is based on the real-life story of this empathy expert, who seems to have an uncanny ability to help the children who need him most. 

Click the picture to read his real-life story.

In this PPBF pick, Mogie is the one pup in a passel (have your students look up that word) who isn't destined for something big like his siblings, some of which join a Search and Rescue operation, others who take a Service job, and the rest who become Show Ring trophy dogs. 

Instead, Mogie is a rule-breaker who ends up at a Ronald McDonald House in Houston, destined to be the pet with the therapeutic ability to help heal. And when Gage, a sick child who is in the special house for treatment while he's ill, gets his mojo back, Mogie stays to help nurse Antonio back to health. 

Sounds like a really good job for a dog, don't you think?

I read it to a first-grade class yesterday, and they identified it as a circle story. Use this circle story to talk about empathy. How can you tell from Mogie's tale that it might be possible for a pet to have empathy? Have them cite specific examples. Switch places with Gage. What must his experience be like? How do you think he feels? What do you think he needs? What do you think his parents need? How about his friends? How could you use your superpowers to help this family?

This would be the perfect book to springboard a service-learning project. Is there a Ronald McDonald House in your area? What services to they provide? What do they need? Maybe you could partner to provide them a service. Could you make get-well cards or notes of cheer for the residents and their families? Maybe they need stuffed animals or board games? Some of the chapters take those pop tabs from soda cans. Perhaps you could start collecting them? Research what they use those for to spark a discussion about repurposing.

My brother Mark is on the Board of the Milwaukee Ronald McDonald House Chapter, so this charity has a personal connection for me, another reason that I was instantly endeared to Mogie.

Finally, have students write an essay and draw an illustration about who the heart of the house is at their place and why. These would make really special presentations and perhaps even a holiday bulletin board.

Check out this book; I think you'll want a copy for your shelves, too. Then head to Susanna's blog for today's other PPBF titles.