Teaching Resources
Themes:
Family, loss, loneliness, grief, self-discovery, human-animal relationships
Creative Ideas:
- Tova has dala horses due to her Swedish ancestry. Do research on dala horses and then paint your own dala horse.
- Janitorial jobs are often looked at as undesirable. How does Tova change your perspective of this job and list other jobs that you think face the same stigmatism.
- Find a piece of art that you think embodies a theme of the book. Explain why you chose this piece.
- Create your dream cast for the film.
- Pretend to interview Tova after the story is over. What ten questions would you ask her?
- Write a few chapters from the point of view of another animal in the aquarium.
- Debate idea: assign students pro or con sides and have them come up with reasons for and against keeping aquatic animals in captivity.
- Based on the book descriptions draw the layout you picture for the aquarium.
- Come up with a list of ten questions to ask the author.
- Write an epilogue for the book set five years in the future.
Discussion Questions:
Discussion questions can be found at Reading Group Guides.