by Audrey Couloumbis Newbery Honor Book Published 2000

Created by Phil Bildner, author of "Shoeless Joe and Black Betsy"

1) There is no sequel to Getting Near to Baby. But we might write our own:

It is six months later. Willa Jo and Little Sister are back at home with Noreen. Aunt Patty wants them to come for a visit. Pretend you are either Aunt Patty or Noreen.

a) Write Aunt Patty's letter. Invite them back and tell them some interesting news as well. A personal letter should include the date, the salutation, the body of the letter, the complimentary close, and your signature.

b) Or be Noreen and accept the invitation, and tell her how everyone is doing. Tell what Willa Jo or Little Sister or Uncle Hob will most look forward to in this visit.

2) Choose any character from Getting Near to Baby. Pick three (3) personality traits or attributes this character demonstrates and write about them. Support your opinion with specific references or quotes from the text.

This essay should have an introduction and conclusion, and three (3) body paragraphs, a total of five (5) paragraphs.

(It's often very effective to ask your students to make at least one connection to other literature they've read this year. Ask them to compare one of Willa Jo's, Little Sister's, Aunt Patty's or Noreen's personality traits to the traits of another character they have encountered in this year's reading.)

3) There were many lessons and themes that ran through Getting Near to Baby. Choose three (3) of these and write about them. How were these themes developed? Support your answer with references and quotes from the text.

(Here again, students might make connections to other literature. They can compare a theme or lesson from Getting Near to Baby to a theme encountered in another book they read this year. Or they might consider the event of Baby's death, and compare it to a similar event in another story, such as the baby's death in Our Only May Amelia, by Jennifer Holm (grades 4-6), or Evvy's Civil War, by Miriam Brenaman (grades 6-8.)