Oggie Cooder by Sarah Weeks

Oggie Cooder by Sarah Weeks
Parent Child Book Discussion
Grades 4-5
January 2008
Questions by Julie Moran

snack: american cheese slices-- of course-- so kids can practice charving. Bring an atlas and see if kids can make the shapes of different states.

Characters:
Oggie Cooder-- master cheese charver
Turk--named after Oggie's favorite sandwich: turkey on rye
Donnica Perfecto--popular girl who wants to be famous, lives across the street
Amy Schneider--Oggie's good friend and cafeteria buddy
Dawn and Hannah--Donnica's best friends
Mr. Snolonovsky (Snow-Linn-Off-Skee)--Oggie and Donnica's teacher
Mr. and Mrs. Cooder--make their living collecting odd things at garage sales and auctions to resell at their store "Too Good To Be Threw."

Questions:

1. Thumbs up/Down

2. Oggie always makes a sound when he gets excited. (Prrrr-ip!!!) How do you think it sounds? Try it together.

3. Who is your favorite character in the story and why?

4. Oggie has a hidden talent. What are some of your hidden talents? Share!
(wiggle your ears, roll your tongue, double-jointed, rattle off the numbers of pi, etc...)

5. Oggie enters the "Name the Bagel" contest-- and his entry is for a cinnamon raisen bagel which he calls "Raisen the Roof." Have you ever entered a naming contest like this?
Come up with names for different cookies, bagels, pies, ice cream: chocolate sandwich cookie, sunflower seed bagel, apple-carmel-chocolate chip pie, green vanilla ice cream with fudge, chocolate chipsand marshmallows.

6. Oggie has an unusual way of dressing. What was he wearing the day he found out he did not win the "Name the Bagel" contest from the Bakestuff Company? (he was wearing blue/white striped seersucker pants, plaid duck-hunting shirt with a pouch for holding dead ducks.) He also crochets his own multicolored shoelaces). What is your style. What do you like to wear-- perhaps a favorite outfit.

7. How do other kids at Oggie's school feel about his fashion statements? Have kids ever teased you for wearing certain things?

8. Oggie tells us about who sits where in his cafeteria. Each crowded table at his school had something in common: jocks (sporty kids), kids who liked horses, etc. Where do you sit in your cafeteria?

9. Oggie sits with his friend Amy at lunch every day. Why do you think nobody else wants to sit with them? Are their kids that sit alone at your school? Why?

10. Why does Oggie keep cheese in his back pocket? (his back pocket was the only place he could keep his cheese the perfect temperature for charving. Too cold, it would crack; too warm, it would get sticky and hard to handle.)

11. What is Oggie's worst subject in school? (Creative writing). What is your least/favorite part of school?

12. What do you think of the relationship between Donnica Perfecto and her mother? (Donnica is versy spoiled and her mother allows herslef to be ordered around by her daughter, see chapter 8). Do you know anyone who is allowed to treat their parents that way? What would happen to you if you tried that with your parents?

13. How do you feel about Donnica using Oggie for his charving talent? What could Oggie have done differently?

14. It is VERY important to Donnica to become famous. This seems to be a popular trend in our society. Why do you think it is so important for people to have their 15 minutes of fame? What would be good/bad about being famous?

15. Even after all that Donnica puts Oggie through, he still allows her to be his manager. Why do you think this is?