Laura Numeroff Author's Study

• English
• 2nd Grade

Laura Numeroff

Author's Study by Ashley Crockett

 CEE 365 

Laura Numeroff

Author's Life

• Laura Numeroff was born in 1953 in Brooklyn, New York, as the youngest of three girls.
• Growing up, Numeroff was surrounded by art, music, and books, with her father being an artist for a newspaper and her mother being a teacher. 
• She loved reading growing up, and even enjoyed making up and illustrating her own stories. 

Laura Numeroff's Career

• Numeroff attended Pratt Institute originally wanting to be a fashion designer; however, she eventually began taking classes in writing and illustration. In this class is where she wrote her first book, Amy for Short, which was published in 1976. 
• For her first nine books, she wrote and illustrated them herself. 
• In 1985, Laura Numeroff began the If You Give... series with If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. 
• This book was rejected nine times before it was finally published. 
• The If You Give... series has sold over 4.5 million copies and has been printed in fourteen languages. 

• Numeroff attended Pratt Institute originally wanting to be a fashion designer; however, she eventually began taking classes in writing and illustration. In this class is where she wrote her first book, Amy for Short, which was published in 1976. 
• For her first nine books, she wrote and illustrated them herself. 
• In 1985, Laura Numeroff began the If You Give... series with If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. 
• This book was rejected nine times before it was finally published. 
• The If You Give... series has sold over 4.5 million copies and has been printed in 14 languages.

Author's Career

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie 

Watch a portion of the next video for the Spanish version of this book.

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Author's Inspiration 

• Laura Numeroff's favorite books, Stuart Little by E.B. White and Eloise by Kay Thompson, inspired her to be a children's writer. 
• Many of her books are generated based on her life and what she thinks will interest children, such as If You Take a Mouse to School. 
• Numeroff's desire was to create books that made them feel the way she felt while reading. 
• During a car trip to Oregon, Numeroff started to think "about different animals and imagining them eating foods I like" (Fales, 2019). This idea became what is now her most popular book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.  
• The If You Give... series are circular stories with repetition. 

• Laura Numeroff's favorite books, Stuart Little by E.B. White and Eloise by Kay Thompson, inspired her to be a children's writer. 
• Numeroff's desire was to create books that made children feel the way she felt while reading. 
• Many of her books are generated based on her life and what she thinks will interest children, such as If You Take a Mouse to School, where she views herself as the mouse. 
• During a car trip to Oregon, Numeroff started to think "about different animals and imagining them eating foods I like" (Fales, 2019). This idea became what is now her most popular book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.  

Author's Inspiration 

Circular stories: narrative indefinitely repeated in which the last element leads to repetition of the first. The book ends at the same place it started. 

Sees herself as the mouse: Numeroff is working on something and realizes she needs something, goes to get it and realizes she needs something else, and so on and so forth. 

Themes and Genres

• Her If You Give... stories are considered cautionary tales, in which the moral is that when given something out of kindness, people will continue to ask for more. 
• The genres that Laura Numeroff writes include fiction and humor books. 
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Genre and Teachable Themes

• Laura Numeroff's genre of writing is fictional. 
• Her If You Give... stories can be considered cautionary tales, in which the moral is that when given something out of kindness, people will continue to ask for more. 
• Raising a Hero helps readers to appreciate diversity and the things that help us with them.
• The Jellybeans books teach about the importance of friendships and leaning on our friends to help us through uncertain times. 

• Being an avid animal lover, Laura Numeroff wrote the book Raising a Hero, about a dog who becomes a life-changing friend and helper when he is raised to be a service dog who helps people with disabilities achieve independence.  
• Portions of the sale of this book went to the Canine Companions for Independence, " a non-profit providing skilled service dogs to children, adults and veterans with disabilities and special needs, free of charge" (Biography – Laura Numeroff). 

Common Text Features

• Repetition: students enjoy and benefit from the repetition of the stories. 
• Circular plots: narrative indefinitely repeated in which the last element leads to repetition of the first. The book ends at the same place it started. 
• Tête-Bêche "Reversible" Binding: a single volume in which two texts are bound together, with one text rotated 180° relative to the other.
• Inference text: students have fun inferring what will come next. 

Circular stories: narrative indefinitely repeated in which the last element leads to repetition of the first. The book ends at the same place it started. 

Tête-Bêche: a single volume in which two texts are bound together, with one text rotated 180° relative to the other

What is Laura Numeroff's writing style called?

1. Non-Linear
2. Circular
3. Parallel
4. Interactive

Nonlinear: presents the events of the story out of order, employing flashbacks and other literary devices to shift the chronology of a story.

Parallel: the story follows multiple storylines, which are tied together through an event, character, or theme.

Interactive: The reader makes choices throughout the interactive narrative, leading to new options and alternate endings

Spin the wheel and Read!

Did this book have a circular plot?

YES

NO

Laura Numeroff Book Awards/Honors

This book was feature on the Oprah Winfrey Show three times and was recommended by Oprah’s first kids’ book club, as well as being noted as Oprah’s favorite children’s book of the year. 

2006 Quill Award for Children's Illustrated Book. 

Among many other states, including Colorado, Georgia, and Nevada, Laura Numeroff has won the Californina Young Reader Medal. 

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and What Grandpa's/Grandma's Do Best won the Milner Award in 2007. The purpose of this award is to promote children's lifelong love of reading. 

Laura Numeroff is a #1 New York Times Bestselling author.

Quill Awards: consumer votes (readers voted)

For the Teacher:

Continue for: 

Content areas these books can target

An adaptable lesson plan

Literacy Skills

Using Laura Numeroff books, students can practice...

• Prediction
• Sequencing
• Cause-Effect Relationships
• Creating their own story circles
• Onset-Rime

Literacy	Math
Prediction	Data Analysis
Sequencing	Graphing Data
Cause-Effect Relationships	Basic Operations
Creating own story circles	Telling Time
Onset-Rime	Estimation

Content Areas

Spin for a Book by Laura Numeroff and adapt to the following lesson!

Graphing Lesson Plan 

Graphing Data Center Lesson 

Materials: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie book, anchor chart, Graph sheets, markers, paper, pencils, and cookies. 

Standard: 16. Create a picture graph and bar graph to represent data with up to four categories. a. Using information presented in a bar graph, solve simple "put together," "take a part," and "compare" problems. 

Objective: I can can create a bar graph to represent collected data and analyze the data to solve "put together," "take a part," and "compare" problems. 

Differentiated Instruction: Allow students to represent the data with connecting blocks to solve the "put together" and "compare" problems. 

Lesson Procedures:

1) Prepare a bar graph anchor chart and show to students, telling them that they are going to have a "taste test" to decide on their favorite kind of cookie. 

2) Give students bites of four different kinds of cookies: Chocolate chip, sugar, lemon, and Oreos. 

3) After the taste test, tell students to color in on the anchor chart their favorite cookie. 

4) Have students replicate the data on their own sheet of paper or a bar graph worksheet.

5) Ask students to analyze the data: 

• Which cookie was the most favorite? Least favorite? 
• "Put together" the number of votes casted in total and between two types of cookies. 
• Compare the most favorite and least favorite cookies. 

What did you learn about Laura Numeroff?

References

Biography – Laura Numeroff: Early Life, Career, Awards & More. Laura Numeroff. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://lauranumeroff.com/about/ 

Encyclopedia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Laura Numeroff. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Laura-Numeroff/628346# 

Fales, M. (2019, November 1). Laura Numeroff: Starts a New Chapter. Story Monsters Ink, 26.

Newman, P. (2015, July 9). Laura Numeroff, Dreams Can Come True. Patricia Newman. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.patriciamnewman.com/kidlit-creators/laura-numeroff-dreams-can-come-true/ 

Take Five with Laura Numeroff. Baltimore County Public Library Home. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.bcpl.info/blog/2021/take-5-with-laura-numeroff#:~:text=I%20don't%20have%20a,or%20just%20descriptions%20of%20images.