Dr. Donna's Review

THEMES & OTHER THINGS

The story of Abby Cadabby’s dreamtime journey to Wonderland will appeal to both boys and girls in the three to six year age group and to many of their older brothers and sisters as well. The storyline is simple enough for young children to follow and the characters Abby meets along the way are enchanting. Older children and their parents will enjoy the multi-layered humor for which Sesame Workshop productions are well-known. Everyone will enjoy the wonderful songs that punctuate the story.

“Abby in Wonderland” presents themes that can build cognitive and early reading skills and also build understanding of character and social-emotional messages

TALKING POINTS

Building cognitive and early reading skills:

·      Ask children to recall the basic plot line and main points of the story. Encourage them to recall what happened first, next, next and so on. How did the story end?

·      Encourage children to play rhyming games like Abby did in the story when she found words to rhyme with “drink” and “eat.”
·      Help children recall the games played with the letter “T” and practice finding words that begin with “T”. Try the same game with other letters.

Building understanding of character and social-emotional messages:

·      Discuss “persistence.” Abby is persistent in her efforts to find her wand and get back home. In other words, she never gives up.

·      Discuss the lessons that Abby learned, e.g. that bigger is not always better; that home is the best place to be, and other lessons that you may discover in the story.

·      Talk about “friendship.” The red rabbit showed that he was a good friend to Abby. How did he show his friendship? How do you show that you are a good friend?

·      Talk about “courage.” The red rabbit showed courage when he stood up to the king and told him he wasn’t being fair. What did the king do that was unfair? Why was that a brave thing to do? Why is it hard to stand up to someone more powerful than you are?

ACTIVITY IDEAS

Have children draw pictures of their favorite character from Abby in Wonderland. Write the name of the character on the picture. Post it for everyone to see.

Help children make up a story about Abby and Elmo based on another fairytale. Perhaps Abby dreams she is Cinderella and Elmo is the prince. What would happen in the story? How could Abby use her magic wand in the story?

Have children tell you a story about themselves as main characters in a fairytale. What story would they pick? What would happen? Write the story that the child tells and put it in booklet form. Have the child illustrate it.

BOOK SUGGESTIONS

Here are some books that you can read with your family about the themes from the movie:

“Alice in Wonderland” (updated version) from Scholastic Junior Classics. (This is a “child friendly” version of the classic tale.)

“A, My Name is Alice” Written by Jane E. Bayer. Illustrated by Steven Kellogg. (A book of rhymes.)

“Amos & Boris” Written and illustrated by William Steig (An unusual friendship.)

“Colour Fairy Books” Written by Andrew Lang

“Little Lit: Folklore & Fairy Tale Funnies.” Edited by Art Spiegelman and
Francoise Mouly.