The Wednesday Surprise

This book is about a girl named Anna whose grandma stays with her on Wednesdays because her dad is a truck driver and mom works late at the office. The family puts on a surprise birthday party for her dad when he comes home on Saturday, but there is a bigger surprise that only Anna and her grandma know about that brings her dad to tears. The surprise is that Anna has taught her grandma how to read.

I really enjoyed this book it was such an at-home type of book, it was pleasantly well written to make you feel like you were there and it was very touching. I liked the fact too, that the ending really took me by surprise too, I had not even thought about Anna teaching her grandma how to read, because her grandma always brought the big bag of show more books with her on Wednesday's. The illustrations were right on, they were wonderfully drawn, and went right along with the story, they too had that warm home feeling to them, it was so realistic like I was there. This book is an excellent example of a contemporary realistic fiction due to the fact that this could have very well happened. The author did a very good job of not only relating this to a real-life situation, but also bringing it to life the way she did, and throwing in the surprise ending so well that it really took me, the reader by surprise.

I think a good class project for relating to this story is to have the students write in their journals remembering back to a certain birthday they had and have them write about the best surprise gift they received and tell why it was the best surprise, they could also draw the surprise. Also, a fun project would be to go to the school library and let the students pick out a short book of their own choosing. After returning to the classroom, I would have each student wrap the book up in gift wrapping and put it in a bag. The students would then take the “gifts” home that evening and give it to their parents to open then the student will read to his or her parent as a nice surprise. show less

This story was so cute! I was thinking the whole time that the surprise for her dad was going to be that the little girl could read, but it ended up being that the little girl was teaching her grandma to read every Wednesday that they met.

The Wednesday Surprise was a timeless story that I very much enjoyed. Eve Bunting is able to build suspense, and the paintings are very intricate, which allow for foreshadowing to take place. From the beginning of the story, Bunting builds suspense and keeps the reader’s guessing. She says, “I like surprises. But the one Grandma and I are planning for Dad’s birthday is the best surprise of all.” Most readers would guess that they’re getting Dad an awesome material gift, but that isn’t the case. Bunting also makes the text seem ordinary, in order to not give away the surprise. For example, she says, “We read the story together, out loud…” This is very typical of a Grandmother and her granddaughter, but we’re not show more seeing everything yet.

I also loved the paintings in the story. They enhance the text and enable foreshadowing. In one of the pictures, the young girl is breathing into the window, and she draws a picture of a cake. In the text, she says, “I watch for her from the window and I blew on the glass to make breath pictures.” The picture of the cake makes readers think about having a party for Dad, and get them thinking about what the surprise might be.

The central message of the story is that it is never too late to learn to read. No one should be embarrassed that they can’t read because of their age. The surprise in the story was that it was actually Grandma who learned to read – not the granddaughter. The mom asks, “When did you learn to read?” Grandma says, “Anna taught me.” This shows that anyone can teach anyone to read, no matter how old you might be. Reading is a gift that should be given to everyone; it doesn’t discriminate. show less

Ages 3-8. Anna and her grandmother are planning a surprise for Anna's dad's birthday. Every Wednesday night they work on reading, Anna's dad will be thrilled with his gift. I loved the surprise ending, the book is written so the reader thinks Anna is the one learning to read when Anna is actually teaching her Grandmother to read. A great book to inspire a life long love of learning.

Anna's grandmother arrives every Wednesday night to help her mother. And added bonus is that her grandmother is teaching her to read as a birthday surprise for her father.

This is a plain story, filled with a lot of familial love. Anna and her grandmother are successful in surprising her father on his birthday with the added gift that Anna's world has expanded because she knows how to read.

There is nothing dramatic in the story, but I do like the rolling way that love and family is portrayed.

This book is about a little girl, Anna, and her family, they are all getting ready for her father’s arrival back home and his birthday. They all been planning something special to give him for his birthday, but Anna and her grandma been planning a big surprise. The big surprise was that Anna has been teaching her grandma to read. I really liked this book! It shows the reader that no matter how old you are you still can accomplish goals you have. This book also shows readers it doesn’t matter how young you are, you can teach others. A very cute book and I was surprised with the surprise.

This is a touching narrative about a girl who plans a surprise for her father. Although the book leads you to believe that the girl herself is learning to read, she is actually teaching her grandmother. This story can serve as a beautiful launching point for a discussion about family types and education. Students will likely want to imagine reasons why the grandmother cannot read and, depending one our students, some will have experience with illiteracy in their family. A great addition to any library.