The Monarch Award:
Illinois' K-3 Children's Choice Award

2009 Master List

Sponsored by the
Illinois School Library Media Association

2009 Nominee: Precious and the Boo Hag

Home alone with a stomach ache while the family works in the fields, a young girl faces up to the horrifying Boo Hag that her brother warned her about.

Authors: Patricia C. McKissack and Onawumi Jean Moss

Illustrator: Kristen Brooker

Book Activities

    • Questions:  What are you afraid of when you are alone? What is a cautionary tale?
    • Language arts: Brainstorm for words to describe the Boo Hag and to describe Precious. Make a list of rules for when you are home alone.
    • Writing: Write a sequel when the Boo Hag comes back. Or make up your own monster and tale. Look at the photos of sharecroppers on the website below. Write a story about one photo.
    • Math: Study coins and the images on them. Make up math problems with coins.
    • Science: Discuss share cropping, planting corn.
    • Social Studies: Research Boo Hags and other folk monsters from the South.
    • Drama: Act out a portion of the story using props.
    • Cooking/Food: Discuss the fact that Pruella hated clean water and the shortage of clean water in the world.
    • Art: Analyze the art then make folk art collages.
    • Music: Make up a song for "Pruella is a Boo Hag..."
    • Movement: Play jacks.
    • Technology: Draw a picture of a monster in Kid Pix. Add a text box to tell about the monster.

Related Books

  • Books by Patricia McKissack:
  • Flossie and the Fox, Mirandy and Brother Wind, The Dark Thirty and sequel
  • Shrek by William Steig
  • Tailypo by Paul  Galdone
  • Wiley and the Hairy Man
  • Leonardo and the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

Websites

Monarch Home

2009 Nominee Resources