• Complete, ready to use!
• Book included inside the course!
• Makes reading fun!
• Develops literacy, vocabulary!
• Introduces some history, geography!
• Develops critical thinking!

I taught a literature class in my homeschool co-op using two Steps Literature Guides, Sherlock Holmes stories and The Time Machine. The Literature Guides are very easy to use. The lesson structure made scheduling and assigning homework very simple. We used the lesson questions to stimulate class discussion and I was impressed with the contributions that the students made during class. I look forward to continuing to use Steps products!  L.F., Homeschool Teacher
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A perfect read for the young, developing reader!  Short, sweet, fun.

This lovely fantasy by Ruth Stiles Gannett (with illustrations by her mother-in-law!) is one of the most beloved children's books of all time.  The search by the writer's "father" through dangerous lands where animals talk and wild things happen, for a dragon, has been one of the most read of all American children's books for decades.

Here's a complete guide that will help your student, ages 7-adult, understand this simple, charming book.

The history of the period of time is explained, so that the student understands why Gannett wrote as she did, and what he was trying to say to his readers about their time (and ours). Gannett's personal history is also explored, and the student relates what he's learned about the writer's life to the stories, and how her own experience helped her to create this loved works. The history of the book, its publishing success, is considered.

Important tools of writing are explored and explained, such as the message of a piece (the idea the author wishes to communicate), plotting, characterization, conflict, language, irony, and the use of surrogate characters representing the author and his views. The student then uses his knowledge of the tools of good story-telling to analyze and understand the story.

No additional materials are needed. The entire text for this short novel is contained in the course.

Before reading each chapter, the student looks though the simple, single definition that applies, for every key or difficult word used in that chapter. This will allow the student to understand what he reads the first time he reads it.  Locations mentioned in each chapter are also listed before the reading starts, and they are located by the student on maps or globes. In this way, the student will know where those places are in the world when encountering them in the story.

After each chapter, the student is provided numerous exercises which demand cognitive and critical thinking on the student's part. The exercises help make the story more relevant to the student, and increase his understanding of the story and its unique values.

We provide links to film and/or other presentations of the pieces being studied!

This is a complete study guide, one that will bring this short, suprising fantasy to life.  Is there a dragon waiting somewhere out there for you?