Freddy and the French Fries: Fries Alive!
Educator Guide

Freddy and the French Fries: Fries Alive!
by David Baldacci; with art by: Rudy Baldacci
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (www.lb-kids.com)
ISBN: 0-316-15998-0
Price: $12.99 ($18.99 in Canada)
Pages: 160
Trim size: 5 1/8" x 7 1/8"
Middle Grade: Ages 8-12

About the Book

Meet Theodore, Wally, Curly, Ziggy, Si, and Meese -- French fries you'll love so much you won't want to eat them! But shoestring, waffle, wedge, curly and crinkle-cut potatoes were never more irresistible than in David Baldacci's zany adventure about five giant fries that come to life.

It all begins when Freddy Funkhauser, an offbeat nine-year-old with a knack for science, embarks on an ambitious plan to win new customers for the family business, The Burger Castle. But when his secret invention ends up working better than he'd ever dreamed, his plans go wildly awry as his kooky companions wreak havoc in every corner of Freddy's world.

A master crafter of thrills, bestselling novelist David Baldacci now turns his tremendous talent to side-splitting storytelling in this hilarious adventure about fame, friends, and family.

Note from the Author

With all the literacy programs I've been involved with, and my experiences with Wish You Well, the novel, and Wish You Well, the Foundation, I believe that I know how to reach kids through books. Built into the Freddy stories are strong examples of friendship and teamwork and the idea that simply because people may look different from you and me doesn't mean they're somehow bad people; it celebrates the strength and excitement of diversity. It also highlights using your brain in a "smart is definitely cool" way. Also in Freddy are viable reading tools, so subtly placed into the story that kids won't even know they're learning. While I‘ve learned in my speeches that the best way to make a serious point is to attach it to a bit of humor, I've found that a "not knowing you're learning anything experience," can be some of the most fertile ground in education. These reading tools include a vocabulary enhancement exercise and a word separation skill.

About the Author

David Baldacci is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels and many international hits including Absolute Power and The Christmas Train, as well as the critically acclaimed Wish You Well, which is currently taught in schools across the country and has been adopted for use by state and national reading programs. He lives in Virginia. His Web site is www.david-baldacci.com.

Pre-Reading Activities

Inventors

What does an inventor do? Who are some of your favorite inventors? What did they invent? Why are inventors so important? If you were an inventor, what would you invent?

Friendship

Everyone can be a friend in disguise. Create a class list, leaving room for people to write after each name. Reproduce and pass the class list out to the students. Instruct the students to write one nice thing about every one of their classmates. Once completed, collect the sheets and compile a personal list for each student. It should serve as a reminder that everyone can be a friend as well as a keepsake of the positive and not the negative about people.

Teamwork

Set the class up in groups of 3 or 4. Provide them with the following vocabulary list:

flounced, smote, mischievous, exhausted, generator, hydroelectric, turbines, electrodes, propelled, authoritative, posthaste, interacted, discernible, combustion, spontaneous, moniker, constipation, henceforth, incognito, anthropomorphic, resistance, unconvinced, courtesy, barbarian, demeanor, ambition, indignantly, undignified, psychiatrist, scenario, refurbish, expeditiously, restoration, morphed, monologues, ambushed, gainful, cease, desist, conundrum, abyss, perplexity, sabotaged, outrageous, confidently, and conjoined.

Give them 15 minutes to try and define the words as a team, without a dictionary. Take note which teams correctly define the most words. Then allow the teams to use the glossary at the end of the Freddy and the French Fries "Reading Guide" to look up the actual definitions of the words. Let them know they can keep this glossary as a reference to look up the words while reading Freddy and the French Fries: Fries Alive!

Knowledge

• List the names of the fries and discuss three characteristics for each (color, shape, super powers)
• How did Nanny Boo Boo get her name?
• Name two things that Freddy's dad invented and what they were used for?

Comprehension

• Describe what caused the Fries to come alive.
• Identify the differences between Patty Cakes and Burger Castle.
• Describe how Ziggy can put himself back together.

Application

• The Patty Cakes and Burger Castle floats were described in detail in the book. Draw one or the other of the floats.
• Examine the drawings in the book. Do the pictures match how you thought the characters/scenes looked?

Analysis

• Identify some themes from Freddy (friendship, teamwork, loyalty, bullying) and discuss how they play into the storyline.
• Freddy's dad always reminded him that a good scientist always thinks about all aspects of an invention before he invents it. Did Freddy think about everything before creating the Fries? What would you have done? What are some things that Freddy didn't think about?

Synthesis

• Luck is on Freddy's side often in the book. When do you think he had his luckiest break... and what do you think might have happened if he hadn't been so lucky?
• Howie Kapowie tells important information to the Spankers that could get Freddy in a lot of trouble. Why do you think that Howie was so scared of Adam?

Evaluation

• Freddy seems to get bullied a LOT in Freddy and the French Fries. Compare different occurrences in the book to something you may have seen in real life. Explain why reading about bullying and actually seeing it feels different
• When the Fries first get to Pookesville, they are feared and hated because they are different and strange looking. Can you think of a time when you made a judgment based on someone's appearance? Or when someone judged you based on your appearance? What do the Fries' story and your own experiences tell you about making these quick conclusions?
• Friends play an important part in the book. Select the top 2 instances in the book where Freddy needed their help the most? Why are YOUR friends important to you?

Look for the next Freddy adventure in January 2006

Freddy and the French Fries: The Mystery of Silas Finklebean
0-316-15999-9 • $12.99 ($17.99 in Canada)

In this sequel to Freddy and the French Fries: Fries Alive!, everything is going great for Freddy and the Funkhouser family, as Freddy's French fry pals have helped them face up to their mean rivals, the Spankers. The trouble is, big bully Adam spanker isn't about to let Freddy get the upper hand. As Freddy hatches a plan to set Adam straight, he discovers the lab of long-lost scientist Silas Finklebean, along with instructions on how to build a time machine. With Finklebean's help, Freddy and the Fries are determined to prove themselves to Adam once again.