His Dad took him to the big cat’s cage probably so he can be happy because he likes talking to jaguars.” I wonder if he still stutters now? I think he can talk to animals because they don’t make fun of him and he really liked talking to jaguars. But the good thing is that he could talk to animals without stuttering and he could sing. “This book is about how Alan stuttered and his teacher would put him in time out or away because she thought he was broken. I think he can always feel sad at school because he keeps stuttering and he has no friends. Of if he is shy, he could face his fears. I think he should try practicing by talking to his parents. “If I was the boy, I think I know the cure because if he doesn’t talk when he talks to animals, so when he’s talking to people, he should imagine an animal. I think he goes to the zoo to see the jaguar and maybe this makes him stop stuttering.” Maybe he just sits on a chair and reads a book and minds his business. My class, we talked with each other about how he stuttered. I think the boy feels comfortable around the jaguars and hopeful and happy. His parents help him buy help from doctors. Some student responses from this part in the story:

When the talk is powerful, the writing is powerful. On this page, one child shared: “ I think he has been told this so many times about himself, he doesn’t know how to feel differently.” The children also felt sad that Alan continued to feel “broken” despite learning to speak without stuttering. Students were honestly appalled that Alan was excluded from his classroom community. What is it like to stutter? What makes a difference for Alan? Why does being around animals have such impact? What is his promise all about? Why does he feel so broken? We are now two thirds of the way through and our word list (recorded on a sticky note on the inside cover) is getting long: voice, stuttering, broken, fluently, promise, protected area, hunters, capture and release, Belize, endangered, wild. Soon, I thought about it so much, I bought a copy for my classroom and finally, as part of a study about endangered animals, I am reading it aloud.Īs we do in our room, we are taking our time with this title. And then I began to think about sharing it with my students. When I first read A Boy and A Jaguar written by Alan Rabinowitz and illustrated by Cátia Chien, I closed it, took a deep breath, opened it up and read it again.

Cougar by Alan Rabinowitz