Double Happiness by Nancy Tupper Ling

Title: Double Happiness
Author/Illustrator: Nancy Tupper Ling/Alina Chau
Genre: Fiction
Age: 5-8

This book is told from the two children talking about things they experience as they are moving from their old home. the two children Jack and Gracie are sad to leave their home and all the things that make it special such as the trolleys, Nai Nai, Auntie Su and Uncle Woo, and many other little things. They decide to keep a little box with treasures in it from their traveling and remind them of their old home. When they were both young they decided to keep memories inside a special box and it was their happiness boxes.  Their goal was to find 4 treasures on their way to their new home. When Gracie went to visit Nai Nai, she had a panda sitting on the window she let her take it to remember her by. They kept score of how many they each had and it was like a game, the first to 4 would win. Jack wanted things that grrr and whirl, so his first item was a dragon, with its sharp claws and shiny scales, it was just was he was looking for, for his special box. Jack then found a penny and it was 2-1. Once they got off the bus, a eucalyptus leaf flew and landed on her box and she kept it to remind her of home. Now they were all tied 2-2. They then arrived at the airport and they were playing games and having fun, but they had to be quiet because their dad was sleeping. Jack's next treasure was some gum he found and made it into a snake. When they boarded the plane Jackie and Gracie got to meet the pilots and even got wings and a high five. When they were taking off Gracie drew a picture of everything from her old city and placed it inside of her treasure box so she could never forget home. they both took a nap and then arrived at their new home. Jack found a marble and was the first to fill his box, and Gracie felt upset because nothing reminded her of home and he filled his box first. They get to their new home, and explore the area ad the house and go look out in the snow and they hear a train. When Gracie got to her room, she took out all of hers treasures and counted them and still needed one more. When it was time for dinner she was digging in a box and found a picture perfect for her treasure box. At the end of the night, they go to their rooms and decorate their boxes, Jack's had three green loops, a swishy tail, and Gracie painted hers with a boy and girl walking in the snow, each had their box of memories in their hands.

This story is told from the children's  perspective and whenever the girl speaks it's written in pink and when the boy speaks it's in blue. This book would be great for students in Kindergarten-3rd grade. If I used this in a lesson, it would be about if students had to move far away or move at all. I would probably start off with the ones who've moved from far away, then ask students about their moves locally. I think it would be fun to see if any students had anything drastic change. I would then have my students draw a picture of what they think it was like for Jack and Gracie and we'll talk about how they may have felt, and if any of my students have had to move, we'll talk about how they felt during the move.
- Peace. Love. Giraffes.

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