The Carpenter
As a young boy’s father uses his hands and tools to carefully work nearby, the boy uses his creativity and a simple folding ruler to bring creatures to life, drive a car, and build a house. The father and son appear to be working separately, but are closely connected, especially by the end of the story when imagination and reality merge into a fine adventure
Pennsylvania Center for the Book Awards
Book Activities & Discussion Ideas
Obtain a folding ruler and show children how it can be bent into different shapes. Keep folding rulers in the play/art area to allow children to experiment with them. On subsequent readings, ask children to notice what kinds of tools the dad uses to design the boat. They will notice a clipboard used to hold the paper, a right-angle ruler used to draw straight lines, a pencil for erasing mistakes, and graph paper. Provide these objects for children to experiment with in their play/art area. Children may enjoy constructing their own boat out of household or recyclable materials and testing it in a small pool of water to see if it will float.
Because the book is wordless, adults may want to narrate what is happening in each picture and ask their child for their contributions. For some families a folding ruler may be something that is familiar to the adult but new to the child. Adults can take this opportunity to describe the different uses for a tool like this. Replicas of folding rulers can be made using poster board and paper fasteners. Discuss ways children could use these replicas when taking them home. After reading the story, families can spend time looking at the different tools on the inside of the front and back cover.