Summary
a young boy Larnel is Mrs. Katz, an older woman’s neighbor. Larnel offers for Mrs. Katz to adopt an abandon kitten. Larnel and Mrs. Katz become friends, she teaches him about Judaism, giving him food from her culture, and letting him come for shabbat dinner. Larnel also introduces her to his culture. When the cat, Tush, goes missing, Larnel and Mrs. Katz proves that they are more than just neighbors, they are truly friends. Despite their age difference, they teach each other and learn.
Theme(s):
Friendship, Multigeneration, Courage, Kindness
Personal Response
This beautiful story shows that friendship can come in any form. Friendship does not have limitations including age, race, or gender. Larnel is kind to his older neighbor and she is just as kind back. The friendship that they form radiates from page to page. The book encourages readers to be kind to everyone, and not just other kids in their class, or on their street.
Teaching Ideas
Using this story, I would ask students to generate special people in their life, aside from friends in the classroom. Think about people who have made an impact to you, or people you see around town that do kind things for you. Using this story, we can generate these people using a web and come up with evidence to support why they are special to us.
Recommended Reading Level
Grade 07, Grade 08, Grade 09, Grade 10
