INTERACTIVE READ ALOUD
Read aloud questions & Connections
1. Mabel is a little fly - especially compared to a big human hand.
→ Can you use your Mabel pom-pom to compare its size with the size of your hand?
→ What about with the size of a grown-up’s hand?
2. Mabel leaves to get started on her big plans.
→ What does she have in her hand?
→ Does it give you a clue about which plan she will start with?
3. Why do you think Mabel’s friends tell her she can’t climb the mountain?
→ How do you think that makes her feel?
4. Mabel knows that you should not “listen to those who say ‘you cannot,’” just “listen to those who say ‘you can.’”
→ Who are some people in your life that say “you can”?
5. How do you think Mabel is feeling as she starts to climb the mountain? Do her feelings change as she continues her climb?
6. Why did Mabel almost make these changes to her big plans?
→ Climb a mountain to climb a tree.
→ Host a dinner party to eat dinner.
→ Make friends with a shark to make friends with a sheep.
7. What happened that made her change her mind and decide to stick to her big plans?
8. What do you notice about Mabel’s determination?
→ What does she do when things get tricky?
9. Mabel thinks happy thoughts to help her keep going.
→ What do you think she thinks about?
→ What happy thoughts would you think about to help you keep going in a tricky situation?
10. How do you think Mabel feels when she gets to the top of the mountain?
→ Can you pretend to be Mabel at the top of the mountain?
→ How would you look?
→ What would you say?
11. What is happening in the story when Mabel is back home?
→ Can you tell that another one of her ‘big plans’ is taking shape?
→ What are all of her friends excited about?
12. What do you think Mabel’s friends learned from her?
13. Mabel continues on with her next plan…
→ Do you see some clues in the pictures that tell you what her next plan is?
→ Do you think she can do it?
1. How do you think Mabel stayed brave and kept going, even when others said she couldn’t?
2. Have you ever wanted to do something big, like Mabel?
→ How did you feel when you tried it?
→ What did your friends and family think? Did they cheer you on or say that you couldn’t do it?
3. Do you have a new, big goal, now?
→ How can you be brave like Mabel and work toward your goal?
4. Mabel makes up a cheer for herself using the letters in her name: “Give me an M, give me an A, give me a B-E-L! Put them together and what do you get? Mabel!
→ Can you make up your own cheer using the letters in your name?
5. What do you think Mabel learned about herself during her climb?
→ What did you learn from her adventure?
6. Do you think it's important to try, even when something seems hard?
→ Have you ever felt proud after doing something difficult?
