Norton Juster’s tale of an angry ogre features whimsical watercolor illustrations of an old-world village setting.
A picture book suitable for older elementary students, The Odious Ogre is loaded with excellent vocabulary terms, and sure to inspire any group of third and fourth graders who are assigned it as a reading task.
I found the “killing him with kindness” method used by the heroine to best the ogre a bit hilarious, and worthy of working into a class discussion.
This book seems particularly well suited to illustrated retellings taken through all stages of the writing process as a holistic culminating assignment. I recommend The Odious Ogre to any third or fourth grade classroom teacher, student or parent of that age group. A great addition to home, school and classroom libraries.
Photo Credit: Scholastic