Frankweiler, another great art mystery that will have your family hooked on mysteries.From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs.

If you liked Under the Egg, check out the Newbery Award-winning From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. What details do you notice about the artwork? How does this help you understand more of the mystery? To start your thinking, go back to some examples from the book that shows how the author includes information on artwork. Look up some pieces of art and talk about how the author might have done the same thing. Google Cultural Institute (you can search for it on Google) curates digital images from hundreds of art collections from around the world. If you do not have an art museum in your area, you can visit many of the art museums online. Discuss what role you think visiting an art museum could have played in her writing of the story. Discuss the style of art from this period and compare it to the descriptions written by author Laura Marx Fitzgerald. If available, focus on the collection of Renaissance art. In it he states, “Now I know you are the one I was waiting for.” What do you think this statement means? Why is she the one her grandfather is waiting for? How do you think this final letter represents a main idea from the text?Įnjoy a visit to a local art museum with your family. On the last page of the book, Jack, Theo’s grandfather, writes her one final letter. How does the author weave facts into this fictional story? What are these facts? How can you tell the facts from the realistic fictional moments? What is the overall effect of mixing facts with fiction? How does it affect you as a reader? This will help you talk about how birds are used in the book. Why does the author use this imagery in the text? With your child, you might make a chart to record the imagery found in each chapter. Why might the author weave more than one mystery within the plot? Remember to explain where you found your ideas from the text.īird imagery is found throughout the story. There are other smaller mysteries found in this story. This book is a mystery that focuses on the discovered painting, how it came to be painted over, and why it is now sitting on the mantle in Theodora’s house. What is the significance of the title, Under the Egg? What does the title mean literally? How about figuratively – what does it mean figuratively? Here are some examples to get you started:

Laura marx fitzgerald