Mr. King's Castle

Mr. King, a lion in a gold crown, "lives on top of a BIG hill. He wants to build himself a BIG castle. Mr. King likes BIG things." But in order to make such a big castle, Mr. King needs lots of material. So he decides to use blocks he chops up with abandon from all over his hill, not noticing the giant holes he's leaving behind. Once he's done, Mr. King is proud of his enormous new castle. But when his animal friends begin to wonder what happened to their favorite places, Mr. King realizes the harm he has done to the once-beautiful hill. "Everyone is staring at Mr. King, and suddenly he feels very small." Is there anything Mr. King can do to feel big again? This picture book is part of an environmentally themed series created by award-winning author-illustrator Geneviève Côté. With gentle humor, it offers an age-appropriate message to young children about how each of us needs to tread lightly on the earth. It makes a wonderful book for a primary science lesson on environmental stewardship. It also works well for discussions about friendship and could be used for a character education lesson about fairness, responsibility or cooperation. For a hands-on experience, there are visual puzzles in which the pieces chopped out of the hill can be matched directly to the pieces that make up the castle.