E. finished reading The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson when we were stopping to do some errands at a local market. When I opened the rear door so she could get out, she just sat, eyes red. She needed to be alone with her grief for a while. Let me just say that E. is not a kid who emotes very much, although she is connected deeply to emotional truth. So as we recommend this book, we also must mention that it is a difficult story about friendship and loss. It is based on a true event; here is an NPR interview with the author that elaborates upon that.
Here is a multiple choice quiz on the book.
Here is another from kidspoint.org.
This is a good source of lesson plans for the book (scroll down to Instructional Plan). One intriguing question raised here is to read the lyrics to Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water", listen to the song, and consider this: How is the bridge over troubled water in the song like the bridge to Terabithia in the book? Who else in the book besides Jess and Leslie might the song lyrics fit?
