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Activity for Peg and the Yeti

Peg and the Yeti

Written by Kenneth Oppel
Illustrated by Barbara Reid
JK – Grade 3

“Peg was the restless sort. She was pushing nine, and she figured it was high time she made something of her life. After all, she wanted big, she wanted better, she wanted best.”

Meet Peg; the brave, bold, and daring youngster that first captured readers’ hearts and imaginations in Peg and the Whale. But Peg is tired of the bright blue sea and sloshing around at the bottom of the world. She wants big, she wants better, she wants best. She wants to climb the world’s tallest mountain. So, fishing rod in hand, Peg sets out to conquer Mount Everest – after all, it doesn’t look that tall to her. “But if that’s the best there is, [she’ll] just have to put up with it.”

Full of heart-stopping and incredulous high adventures, but tempered by Peg’s lovable and hilarious laissez-faire attitude, this is a story that everyone is sure to enjoy it. Add Barbara Reid’s outstanding, trade-mark plasticine illustrations and you have a winning combination. Expect the unexpected, and hold on tight as you join Peg in her perils on the world’s highest peak…and don’t forget to watch out for the Yeti!

Storytime Suggestions

Before the story...

Invite participation from your audience by asking them what an adventure is. How would you define it? What happens in an adventure? What makes an adventurous person? (Brave, curious, active?). Explore this idea.

Invite the children to share stories about their own personal adventures. Have any of them ever taken a trip far away? What about adventures here at home? At the beach? In their backyard? What made their adventures adventurous? How did they prepare? What happened? Was it fun? Examples might include: fishing adventures, skate boarding adventures, nature walk adventures, etc.

Show the cover of the book. What indications are there that this might be an adventure story? Can they guess who the main character is?

Based on the cover, what might this story be about? What do they think might happen in this story?

Ask children if they notice anything unique or different about the illustrations. If you have read Barbara Reid before, and your children are familiar with plasticine art, you can spend less time on this. But see if the children can guess how the pictures have been made.

During the story...

Barbara Reid’s illustrations are chock-full of wonderful detail. Make sure to spend lots of time on each spread. Allow your children to closely examine each illustration, and point out areas of interest together along the way. It’s great fun to point out details like finger prints in the plasticine, or to guess how a particular effect was made. For example, it looks like a pin was used to create the textured pattern on Peg’s long-johns in the first full page spread.
The story creates lots of natural pauses. Use these to your advantage. Ask your children what they think will happen next, and let them fully explore their ideas before turning the page to find out. Be sure to encourage them to use the illustrations to help their guesses along. For example, when Peg decides to tunnel underneath the Yeti, but needs to pop her head up to see where she is, have the children guess where she might be. What clues are in the picture? (We can see a little bit of the Yeti in the top right corner). Sure enough, when you turn the page she is right back inside the Yeti’s cave!
Peg conquers Everest with the help of the Yeti and returns home. But she is quickly restless. Ask the children to guess what Peg’s next adventure might be. Let them guess, then turn the page for a clue: the Amazon?
Examine the final picture with the children and brainstorm about where Peg might be, and what adventures she might encounter.

At the end of the story...

Ask the children what their favourite part of the story was. Go back to those parts and re-examine them. What made that part their favourite?
Ask the children if they had a favourite picture. Go back to that illustration and allow them to examine it in detail. Discuss what you see there.
Discuss what the most exciting thing Peg did was? The most brave? The scariest? Etc.
Was Peg ever in danger? Why or why not?
What saved Peg from the Yeti? Or how did Peg and the Yeti become friends?
Ask the children what they think will happen to the Yeti now. Will he stay on the fishing boat? Will he go back to Everest? How might he make it back home?

Related Activities

Creative Writing & Drawing

Ask each child to draw a picture or write a story about Peg’s next adventure.
Draw a picture or write a story about what happens to the Yeti next. Does he go home? How?
Draw or write a story about their favourite part of the book.
Have the children think of some alternative endings. They can draw a picture or write a story about what else might have happened to Peg and the Yeti.

Plasticine Art

Let kids try their hands at their own plasticine masterpieces. You’ll want to cover the work surfaces with a plastic tablecloth that can be easily cleaned.
A great idea is to let children make their plasticine picture inside of an old CD case*. Not only does the plasticine stick well to the plastic surface, but the case can be closed and displayed on the wall.
Layering works best for plasticine art. Instruct children to create their background first and then layer their picture on top.
Be sure that they periodically check that their pictures aren’t too thick to close the CD case, otherwise their picture will get squished at the end.
When the pictures are complete, thread a piece of ribbon through the two holes found at the top of all CD cases. Tie the ribbon in a knot or bow, and your framed plasticine picture is ready to be put on display!
For younger children, simply let them play with some plasticine. They can make anything they like. From three-dimensional figurines to their own version of a plasticine picture.
If working with paper, be sure to use heavy cardstock/cardboard as this will hold-up the weight of the plasticine.
For more plasticine art tips and techniques, check out Barbara Reid’s official website (http://www.barbarareid.ca/), or her book on the topic: Fun With Modeling Clay

The Peg Pokey

Get everyone to stand up and participate in this story-specific version of “The Hokey Pokey”. Try making up your own verses as you go along, or have the children join in and suggest some of their own.

You put your right mitten in,
You take your right mitten out,
You put your right mitten in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Peg Pokey,
And you turn yourself around,
That’s what it’s all about!

Some suggested additional verses:

You put your left mitten in… [put your left hand in]
You put your right galosh in… [put your right foot in]
You put your left galosh in…
You put fishing rod in… [mime casting a fishing line]
You put your salted cod in … [cup your hands together and swish like a fish]
You put your pork scruncheon in …[cup your hands like your holding some]

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