Secret-Keeper, The
Publication Information
Author:  Coombs, Kate	Illustrator:  Solomon, Heather M.
Title:  Secret-Keeper, The	Date:  2006
Publisher:  Atheneum	City:  New York
ISBN, paperback:  978-0-689-83963-4	ISBN, hardback:
Recommended audience:
ABE/ABLE:   Yes	ESOL:   Yes
Family:   Yes	Young Adult:
Picture:   Yes
General Information:
Book Type(s):    legends, tales, and myths
HSE Descriptor(s):
Summary:
This is a fairy tale about Kalli, the secret-keeper, who takes others' secrets on so that they can be released from them. All the bad secrets threaten to make her ill until the townspeople come to her rescue.
Teaching Ideas:
Teachers may want to use these questions to prompt discussion and writing: Why did the village have a secret-keeper? How did telling Kalli their secrets help the villagers change? What is the antidote for secrets "so heavy, dim and dark and sad, like a child lost in the snow"? Readers might want to draw parallels to making confession. Students could examine the structure of the story with reference to classical structure of fairy tales.
Teaching Strategies:
Helping Students in the Writing Process    http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/help_writing_process.pdf
Reader's Theater    http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/readers_theater.pdf
Save the Last Word for Me (Adaptation)    http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/adapt_save_last_word.pdf
Unsent Letters    http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/unsent_letters.pdf
Keywords: select any link below for a list of resources which also have that keyword
Social Studies > anthropology > folklore > folktales Literature and Language > figurative language > allegory Literature and Language > figurative language > symbolism Literature and Language > mythology Communities > rural > villages Emotions-Personal Issues > emotions > regrets

We welcome your comments