My Second Monologue Book: Famous and Historical People: 100 Monologues for Young Children (My First Acting Series)
Grade 2–6—The first book is divided into four parts: familiar people (the doctor, the lunch lady), famous Americans (Helen Keller, Harriet Tubman), famous foreigners (Henry the XIII, Anastasia), and imaginary people and folk heroes (Alice in Wonderland, Robin Hood). Each monologue concludes with an activity that ranges from drawing a picture of the character to completing a diary entry and brainstorming answers about the character in an actor's notebook. (Children are encouraged to write in the book, which is problematic for libraries.) The monologues and activities will fire the imaginations of young students. While the illustrations are average, they provide an additional activity for students, allowing them to imagine and draw a costume for the types of characters they will be reading about in the following section.My Third Monologue Bookis also divided into four parts: places you know (the woods, grandma's house), places in the United States (Laredo, TX; Flagstaff, AZ), foreign countries (Italy, Morocco), and imaginary and far-out places (Hogwarts, an alien world). However, the majority of the selections take place in the United States and the fewest focus on imaginary places. Concluding activities range from figuring out where the character is, to circling or underlining grammar clues, to completing a travel journal. Both books are good additions as they suggest well-rounded activities for students to practice reading, writing, speaking, and both critical and imaginative thinking.—Terrilyn Fleming, Colby Public Schools, KSCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.