Climbing Rosa: Book Review and Activities

Inside: Book review of Climbing Rosa

I was wandering through our local library a couple of days ago and found this lovely Hungarian folktale. It’s a new one for me, so I thought I’d share!

Climbing Rosa

by Shelley Fowles
Lincoln Limited, 2006
Fiction, Folktale
4-8

Opening Lines

Long ago in a far-off kingdom there stood an enormous tree. It was so tall that its highest branches were hidden by clouds. No one had ever seen the top.

Synopsis (from book flap):

Rosa can climb anything, from a tree to a drainpipe — which is just as well, since her nasty stepmother and stepsister make her sleep out on the roof.Β  So when the king offers his son’s hand in marriage to the girl who can bring down some seeds from the enormous tree growing outside his palace, Rosa decides to have a go…

What I Thought

I was attracted to this book for two reasons: 1) the gorgeous and colourful illustrations (they’re done in pen and ink, with acrylics) and 2) the female heroine.

As we all know, in folk and fairy tales, it’s usually the girl who becomes the “prize” for the boy, but in this story it’s reversed. Rosa is lovely, athletic and resourceful. I’m not sure why she would want to marry the prince (he seems awfully lazy), but I guess it’s a huge step up from living with a nasty step-mother and sister. πŸ™‚

The story has some drama and suspense when it seems as though Rosa’s stepsister is going to beat her to the prize. That and the beautiful illustrations should keep young readers engaged.

All in all, I thought this was a fun book with a strong female character!

Book Extensions

  1. Venn Diagram: It would be fun to compare this book with Robert Munsch’s The Paper Bag Princess. Both books have female heroines with very different endings.Β  Click here for a simple Venn diagram you can use in your classroom.
  2. Should Rosa marry the prince? I think that if you posed this question to a class of young children, they’d have a lively discussion as to whether or not Rosa should marry him. After the discussion the children could draw a picture and print a short sentence illustrating their answer to this question.
  3. What am I really good at? In this story, Rosa is very good at climbing. Talk to your kids about their personal strengths and have them draw and write about them.
  4. Visit Rhythms of Play for a list of the benefits of tree climbing.

You can find more books at Susanna’s Perfect Picture Book Friday.

Thank you for stopping by!

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16 thoughts on “Climbing Rosa: Book Review and Activities”

  1. Barbara glad you could join #PPBF! This is an interesting book and would be fun to compare with Paper Bag Princess and also Intersellar Cinderella (another strong female hero). Great review.

    Reply
  2. This does look like a beautiful book. I like that it was a bit forward-thinking for 2006. But now that I'm thinking that this most likely a folktale from long ago, it's REALLY forward-thinking to make the girl the \”prize-winner.\” Wondering if this is also some sort of commentary on the general laziness of young men who are born with silver spoons in their mouths, as well, LOL. Thanks for featuring!

    Reply

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