Smoky Night

Author: Eve Bunting
Illustrator: David Diaz
Publisher: Harcourt
Date: 1994
Awards: Caldecott Medal (1995)
Ages: 4-10
Topics: cat, African-American, diversity, Los Angeles Riots, violence, values, adventure, tolerance, urban settings
Summary: Explore the Los Angeles riots through the eyes of a child and his cat.

Book Connections

Smoky Night from Wikipedia

Topic Connections

Cats

Riots

Riots from Wikipedia
List of Notable Riots from Wikipedia
Los Angeles Riots of 1992 from Wikipedia
Los Angeles Riots: Mob Mentality At Work
Watts Riot from Wikipedia

Learning Connections

Collage. Examine the visuals closely. How are they made? How are colors and pieces used to set the mood? Create your own collage.
Disasters. Compare the experience of the child in Smoky Night to the experience of children who experiences the 9/11 disaster.
Diversity. What is diversity? Explore books with themes that celebrate diversity such as It's Okay to be Different by Todd Parr. Look for books that reflect different types of diversity such as racial, cultural, age, gender, disabilities, families.
Fear. Write about a time when you were frightened. Which was more scary, the situation or the unknown?
Perspective. Rewrite the story from different perspectives such as the neighhor, mother, or cat. How does the perspective change the story?
Riots. How does Daniel's mother explain the riot. Is this effects? Why or why not? What's a riot and what causes riots? Who is hurt in a riot? Compare historic riots. How are they alike and different?

Teaching Connections

Smoky Night from UCM
Lots of activity ideas.
Smoky Nights from SIUE
Review and ideas
Smoky Night from Salisbury
Booktalk and other information
Smoky Night from NSU
Reviews, background information, illustration information, and discussion questions.

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