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Momotaro, the Peach Boy: book club questions by chapter
Meeting 1 of 2
🦉 Momotaro, the Peach Boy · meeting 1 of 2
Read: Part One, “The Giant Peach”; Part Two, “Three Friends” (pages 1–9, about 5 minutes aloud).
Stop at the end of page 9, and don't read on: the next part is for next time.
- Where did the old woman find the giant peach?
The story's answer: Floating down the river - What did the dog, the monkey and the pheasant each ask for?
The story's answer: A dumpling - Why did Momotaro tell the dog and the monkey to stop fighting?
The story's answer: A team must work together - Who have we met so far, and what does each of them want?
Listen for: Make a list together on the board; keep it for next time and add to it. - The part we just read is called "Three Friends". Why do you think it has that name?
Listen for: Any answer that points to a moment in the part is a good one; ask for the page. - Stop here. What do you think will happen next? Write or draw one guess to check next time.
Listen for: Keep the guesses in an envelope. Don't say whether a guess is right: the next part will.
Meeting 2 of 2
🦉 Momotaro, the Peach Boy · meeting 2 of 2
Read: Part Three, “The Island of the Oni” (pages 10–15, about 3 minutes aloud).
Stop at the end of page 15, the end of the story.
- Why did Momotaro let the oni chief go?
The story's answer: He wanted the oni to give everything back and stop stealing - What does this story teach?
The story's answer: Friends who work together can do hard things - Look back at last time's guesses. Which came true, and what surprised you?
Listen for: Read the guesses out. Nobody was wrong: a guess that missed often shows what the author wanted us to expect. - The part we just read is called "The Island of the Oni". Why do you think it has that name?
Listen for: Any answer that points to a moment in the part is a good one; ask for the page. - Now that you know the ending, was it the ending you expected?
Listen for: Ask what in the earlier parts pointed to it, or pointed the other way.
About the whole story
- What does this story tell you about the place it comes from?
Listen for: Food, weather, animals, how people live: anything the story shows. - Does it remind you of another story you know?
Listen for: Many folk tales have cousins in other countries.
How these questions are made
The questions with an answer are the story's own, from its page in the library, each at the first stop whose pages answer it and where everyone it names has already come in. The rest are Peabody's, and name nothing but the parts already read. Nothing here is written by a computer model. The story's club kit has the short version for the leader (it gives the ending away), three facts and an activity.
Read it free: peabody.kids/library/momotaro-the-peach-boy. Every child in the club can read it on any device, with no account.