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The Wild Swans: book club questions by chapter
Meeting 1 of 2
🦉 The Wild Swans · meeting 1 of 2
Read: Part One, “Eleven Brothers”; Part Two, “The Nettle Shirts” (pages 1–9, about 7 minutes aloud).
Stop at the end of page 9, and don't read on: the next part is for next time.
- What did the wicked queen do to the eleven princes?
The story's answer: Turned them into wild swans - What did Elisa have to make to set her brothers free?
The story's answer: Eleven shirts from nettles - Why did Elisa not speak, even when people were unkind to her?
The story's answer: A word would keep her brothers swans forever - 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 "The Nettle Shirts". 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
🦉 The Wild Swans · meeting 2 of 2
Read: Part Three, “The Palace and the Churchyard”; Part Four, “The Swans Come Home” (pages 10–15, about 4 minutes aloud).
Stop at the end of page 15, the end of the story.
- What happened when the swans landed on the cart?
The story's answer: Elisa threw the shirts on them and they became princes - What does this story show about Elisa?
The story's answer: Love and patience can carry you through 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 Swans Come Home". 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
- Who in the story was kind, and who was not? How do you know?
Listen for: Ask for the moment in the story that shows it. - Which part would you change, and how would the story end then?
Listen for: There is no wrong ending; ask what else would have to change. - Is there a rule of three in this story (three tries, three wishes, three visitors)? Why do you think fairy tales like threes?
Listen for: Many do; a third time is where the change happens. - Who would you give this story to, and why them?
Listen for: A reader who can name the right person has understood what the story is like. - If you could ask the person who first told this story one question, what would it be?
Listen for: Collect the questions; some have answers on the story's page in the library.
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.
Read it free: peabody.kids/library/the-wild-swans. Every child in the club can read it on any device, with no account.