book

To Kill a Mockingbird is a story about a young girl growing up in a small town in the South the 1930's.  Jean Louise Finch is the narrator and central character of the story.  Everyone calls her Scout.  The story begins when Scout is 6 years old but she tells us the story as an adult looking back on her childhood.  Because this story is narrated by an adult woman about her life as a young girl, this story is a good way to reflect on childhood as an adult.  Through Scout's eyes, we learn a lot about race, racism and justice in the American South in the early 20th Century.  But we can also appreciate even more universal themes of growing up, education, gender, fear, courage and character. 

Peanuts was a beloved comic strip that ran in thousands of newspapers.  Americans processed many of the cultural changes of the 60's through Peanuts: "jogging", an obsession with "cool", psychotherapy, idealism, cynicism, and commercialization. At the same time, many of the themes explored by the Peanuts gang were timeless and deeply personal:  depression, unrequited love, identity, trust and belonging, for example. These are great subjects for starting and sustaining meaningful conversation. What did Peanuts mean to you then? What about now?

This story covers the origins of the Wizard of Oz, not to inform but only to remind you of where it came from:  some context about the author, the book, the film and the television broadcast.  There is just one clip of Judy Garland singing the intro to "Somewhere Over The Rainbow".

See related Meema Stories for more detail on the characters, the plot and the most popular musical numbers we love to remember.

Hoppity is a poem by A. A. Milne, illustrated by E. H. Shepard.  It's about a young boy, Christoper Robin, who simply couldn't sit still. You can begin with the poem itself: read it. Or reread it if you've read it before.  What about the word 'hoppity' in the first place?  But you can also look at the pictures.  Can you picture the child who has just learned to skip?  It can seem that they've forgotten how to walk.  And the only time they are still is when they are sleeping!

This story reminds us how Winnie-the-Pooh comes down the stairs, "bump, bump, bump," behind Christopher Robin.  We can use it to explore memories of Pooh as a character from the pages of the books.  But it can also be a way to talk about childhood, childhood friendships, and the feelings youth.