Pinkalicious and her mother decide to make pink cupcakes because it is too wet outside to play. Pinkalicious L*O*V*E*S pink cupcakes so much, she can't stop eating them, in fact, she eats so many she turns pink! Pinkalicious is so happy that she is pink, she is crying tears of joy. Her mother immediately takes her to the doctor where she is told that she must stop eating pink cupcakes and must start eating green healthy food. Pinkalicious will have none of that! She pretends to eat her dinner and sneaks one last cupcake before she goes to bed. When Pinkalicious wakes the next morning she feels a little strange so she looks in the mirror and discovers that she is no longer pink but RED! She screams at seeing herself this awful color and decides it is time to eat something green. In the kitchen she eats everything green she can find, pickles, okra, broccoli, and artichokes! When her parents come in they are pleased to see that Pinkalicious is her normal looking self again!
This is a super cute book with so many teaching opportunities. The following is a list of reading skills, strategies and ideas you can use to create a fun and engaging lesson for your students.
As I was doing this review, my mind was whirling with tons of ideas so I created a skills and strategies packet to go along with the book.
Reading level: 2.7
Theme/subject: individuality
Genre: humorous fiction
Suggested Vocabulary/phrases:
Pinkalicious, refused, raspberry sorbet, pediatrician, Pinkerbelle, acute,
pinkititus, peonies, pinktales, green with envy, peered, green relish, okra,
artichokes, brussel sprouts, pink-a-boo
Reading skills and
strategies:
- Asking questions - {possible questions before} I wonder what the story is about. I wonder if Pinkalicious is her name. {possible questions during} I wonder why the pink didn’t come off in the tub. I wonder what raspberry sorbet is. I wonder why she doesn’t like green food. {possible questions after} I wonder if Peter will eat green food to change back. I wonder if they will make pink cupcakes again. **Remember to have your students answer/reflect their questions.
- Author's point of view – First Person. Be sure to find 3 pieces of evidence to support this.
- Author's purpose – Entertain {evidence} Pinkalicious turned pink from the cupcakes, and then she turned red. All the bees and butterflies swarmed her because she looked like a peony. All these things are very silly and make an entertaining story.
- Beginning, middle, end - {most important event from beginning} Pinkalicious and her mom made pink cupcakes. {most important event from middle} Pinkalicious woke up pink. {most important event from end} Pinkalicious finally ate green food so she could be herself again.
- Cause and effect – Why did Pinkalicious and her mom make cupcakes? Because it was too wet outside to play. How come Peter didn’t want a cupcake? Because he was very picky. Why did Pinkalicious get very upset? Because she wanted another cupcake and her mother wouldn’t let her have one. Why did daddy wave an angry finger? Because she wanted another cupcake and wouldn’t go to bed. Why did she turn pink? Because she ate too many cupcakes. Why did her dad give her a bath? Because he thought she played with markers. Why did Pinkalicious cry when she was pink? Because she thought she looked beautiful. Why did a bee land on her nose? Because it thought she was peony. Why did Pinkalicious want to go home? Because she was surrounded by bees, birds and butterflies. Why was Peter green with envy? Because he wanted to be pink too. Why did Pinkalicious turn red? Because she ate one last cupcake. Why did Pinkalicious decide to eat green veggies? Because she wanted to be herself again. Why was Peter pink? Because he ate the rest of the pink cupcakes.
- Character analysis - describe Pinkalicious {looks like, feelings, thoughts, character}
- Classify & categorize – Food – pink food and green food.
- Compare & contrast – you and Pinkalicous
- Connections - {possible text-to-self connections} making cupcakes. Loving the color pink. {possible text-to-text connections} Connect this book with A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon. Each book has the main character changing colors.
- Drawing conclusions & inferencing – Why do you think eating green vegetables is the only thing that would make Pinkalicous become herself again? {text clues} All she was eating was the cupcakes. She pretended to eat her dinner. The doctor said it would. {what I know} If I eat too much sweet unhealthy food I start to not feel good. Fruits and vegetables are good for you. {my conclusion} I think the green vegetables were the only thing that would turn Pinkalicious back to herself because eating healthy makes you feel better.
- Fact & opinion - {fact} It was a rainy day. Pinkalicious and her mom made pink cupcakes. Pinkalicious ate Peter’s cupcake. Pinkalicious had to go to the doctor. Pinkalicious turned red. {opinion} Pink cupcakes are the best. Green veggies are gross. Pinkalicious looked silly being red. Peas are the best green vegetable. Pinkalicious acted mean when she stuck her tongue out.
- Main idea & details - {main idea} After eating too many cupcakes, Pinkalicious turned pink. {details} Pinkalicious had to go to the doctor because she was pink. Peter wanted to be pink too. Pinkalicious was told to eat green vegetables to turn herself back. Pinkalicious was as pink as the pink peonies at the park.
- Plot - the turning point or climax in the story was when Pinkalicious turned red.
- Predict – What do you think the story is going to be about? What do you think Pinkalicious’s dad is going to do when he sees her pink? What do you think her mother will do? How do you think Pinkalicious thinks she looks? What do you think the doctor is going to tell them? What do you think Pinkalicious is going to do after she turns red? What do you think happened to the rest of the cupcakes?
- Problem & solution - {problem} Pinkalicious turned red. {solution} She ate green vegetables to turn back.
- Sequencing – Pinkalicious and her mom made cupcakes. Pinkalicious ate a bunch of cupcakes. She asked for more cupcakes after her nap. After dinner she ate more cupcakes. The next morning she turned pink. Here dad gave her a bath. Her mother took her to the doctor. They went to the park. They came home from the park. She pretended to eat her dinner. She snuck one last cupcake. When she woke up in the morning, she was red. Pinkalicious ate all the green vegetables. She turned back into being her. Peter ran into the room and was pink.
- Story elements - list title, author, characters, setting, beginning, middle, end, or problem & solution.
- Summarize - {someone} Pinkalicious {wanted} wanted to eat more cupcakes {but} but her mom wouldn’t let her {so} so she pretended to eat dinner but {then} then ate a cupcake. She ate so many pink cupcakes she {finally} finally turned pink!
- Theme – It is important to eat healthy.
- Visualize – Pinkalicious LOVED pink and when she ate too many pink cupcakes she turned pink. Visualize what color you would want your cupcakes. What would you look like if you ate too many of those cupcakes?
* Vocabulary - 5 pages
* Author's Point of View - 2 pages
* Author's Purpose - 1 page
* Beginning, Middle, End - 5 pages
* Cause and Effect - 8 pages and 1 key
* Classify & Categorize - 6 pages
* Character Analysis - 3 pages
* Compare and Contrast - 3 pages
* Text-to-Text Connections - 2 pages
* Drawing Conclusions/Inferencing - 3 pages
* Fact and Opinion - 2 pages
* Main Idea and Details - 6 pages
* Plot - 3 pages
* Problem/Solution - 5 pages
* Sequencing - 9 pages plus 2 keys
* Story Map - 3 pages
* Visualize - 1 page
* Writing paper - 2 pages
Happy Reading!
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