Danny, Who Fell in a Hole
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Finalist for the 2014 Silver Birch Express Award
Danny finds himself stranded at the bottom of a giant construction hole, armed with nothing but his school backpack, his wits — and the company of a poetry-spouting mole…
Danny’s parents have always been a bit flaky, but this time they have gone too far. Now his mother wants to bake cheesecakes in the mountains, and his father wants to be an opera singer. That means Danny and his older brother will spend half the year in Banff (wherever that is) and half the year in New York City. Worst of all, in preparation for the big move, his parents have given away the family dog, Thwack.
Furious with his family, Danny runs out of the house and keeps running — straight onto a construction site, where he ends up at the bottom of a very, very large hole. When it appears that help is not immediately forthcoming, he settles in for the short haul, like a subterranean Robinson Crusoe. Drawing on his ingenuity, he provides himself with shelter (garbage bag and paper clips), cereal (coffee creamer, rainwater, granola bars and a few rogue raisins found at the bottom of his backpack) and a washroom (a hole in a hole). He even does his homework!
The only thing missing is a Man Friday. Who turns out to have a long, earth-covered snout, a taste for beetles, and no eyes to speak of. Oh, and he also talks. His name is Mole, and he is excellent company — until a snake appears, and Danny must be not only ingenious, but also brave, if he is going to save his new friend.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1
Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.6
Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3
Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When Danny's parents announce their plans to split up the family so they can follow their own artistic dreams, Danny is horrified (his father wants to sing opera in New York City, and his mother intends to bake cheesecakes in Banff, Canada). Even worse, they have given away Danny's beloved dog, Thwack. In a fit of fury, Danny races out of the house and falls into a deep hole at a construction site. He makes clever use of the items in his backpack to get through the next few days, and befriends a wisecracking mole who not only speaks but also composes poetry ("Dark, dark, O glorious dark!/ Bathe me in blackness, ooohoo ohooo!"). Fagan (The Boy in the Box) has fun casting Danny as an outsider in a family of artistes ("Sunsets are clich ," huffs Danny's ukulele-playing older brother after Danny cites a school drawing as an example of his own creativity). Pavlovic's cartoon spot illustrations are a good fit for this funny and sweet tale about learning to embrace change and appreciating what one has. Ages 8 12.
