Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
This is the first time in Colin's life that a live, warm, woolly creature has been placed in his lap. Notice how the passage uses the word 'nuzzle' TWICE — the lamb is not just snuggling once; it is pushing and pushing into Colin's coat because it is a baby and it is hungry and it thinks Colin's warmth might be its mother. And Colin, who has only ever been someone other people took care of, is suddenly the person taking care of something else. That is the secret meaning of this little moment.
Colin stared and stared with a stare of wonder and delight. Dickon walked to Colin's sofa and laid the warm lamb in Colin's lap. The lamb turned and began to nuzzle and nuzzle into Colin's dressing-go...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell Chapter 19 in your own words. Start with Dr. Craven coming to see Colin the morning after his tantrum and being surprised to find Colin happy. Tell how Colin asked for fresh air and for Dickon to push his chair. Tell how Mrs. Medlock shared Susan Sowerby's saying that children need children. Then tell about Mary bursting in the next morning with the big news that spring had come. Finish with Dickon arriving with the lamb, Captain, Soot, Nut, and Shell, and the lamb climbing into Colin's lap to nuzzle for its mother.
Discussion Questions
- What in the story shows that Colin is really a different boy when Dr. Craven sees him — not just a boy who is a little bit better, but a boy whose whole face and whole way of speaking have changed?
- How do you know that Mary is not afraid of Dr. Craven the way the grown-ups in the house are, and why does her not being afraid help Colin more than a careful grown-up could?
+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A baby sheep with soft white wool; Dickon brings one to Colin after finding it without its mother
Item 2
The season when flowers grow and baby animals are born and the world wakes up from winter
Item 3
Clean and new; the opposite of stuffy or stale; fresh air is air that has just come in from outside
+ 5 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
+ 4 more questions in the complete study guide
Get the complete study guide — free
Sign up and get your first book with every chapter included. Copywork, discussion questions, vocabulary, and critical thinking.
Sign up free