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Boris and Bella
Boris and Bella is about a messy monster named Bella Legrossi who lives next door to a tidy monster named Boris Kleanitoff. Needless to say, they don’t get along. Chaos ensues. I won’t beat around the bush here — Bella is, well, a lot like me.
Gris Grimley illustrated this book. His work is utterly grotesque, gruesome, ghastly, horrifying, shocking, and downright scary. So of course I absolutely adore him.
Crimi’s corpse-fresh text and Grimly’s fiendish visual details make an equally pleasing pair.” —Publisher’s Weekly
“This is a bewitching choice for libraries looking to boost their Halloween offerings.” —School Library Journal
In a listing of their “Top Five Spooky Halloween Reads,” Family Fun Magazine listed BORIS AND BELLA at #1: “Neighbors and nemeses Boris Kleanitoffand Bella Legrossi howl at the idea of romance in this devilishly clever new picture book.”
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Check out this Boris & Bella Video!
Ian Lopez and his animation students at NatColl Design School in New Zealand did this animated retelling of the book. It is amazing.
Pre-reading Activity:
By just looking at the front and back covers, what do you think this story is about? Do you think Boris and Bella are friends by the way they are pictured? What makes you think this? If you had to pick a holiday to read this book on, which would it be? Why?
Comprehension Check:
Knowledge:
- Describe Bella.
- Describe Boris.
Comprehension:
- Why won’t the other monsters attend Boris’ party? Why not Bella’s?
- Why weren’t Boris and Bella good neighbors?
Application:
- How do you think Boris’s closet looks compared to Bella’s?
- Predict what you think will happen one year after the close of the story.
Analyze:
- Debate who you think would make a better friend and why.
- Examine the illustrations. Which one is your favorite? Why?
Synthesize:
- How would you feel if people refused to come to a party you were throwing?
- What would you do?
Evaluation:
- What is your favorite creepy detail in the book? (I Love the biting dust bunnies!)
- Why do you think the artist chose the colors he did to portray this story? What colors would you choose?
Projects
Language Arts:
Pretend you are Boris or Bella and write a letter of complaint to the newspaper advice columnist about your neighbor asking for help about how to deal with them. Then, switch letters with a partner and write an advice response to their question.
-or-
Plan Boris and Bella’s wedding. Create invitations, a guest list, arrange the menu, and describe the event in a scrapbook you create to commemorate the most important social event in Booville!
Art:
Make a detailed map of Booville. Get ideas from the book to construct it, but feel free to add details of your own. Make sure you have a key to all things gloomy and gross!
-or-
Make a diorama from one scene of the book. Turn a shoebox on its side and begin reconstructing one of the scenes with materials you find around your house and yard.
Music:
In pairs, write a song about Boris and Bella using the “Twelve days of Christmas” as your tune of inspiration.
Science:
Make slime:
One part water (dyed green or other ghastly color) to four parts cornstarch.
Make Ghoul Drool:
1 13-oz. package lemon-lime Kool-Aid
1 cup sugar
8 cups water
1 can frozen orange juice concentrate
4 cups Sprite or other clear soda
5 scoops green sherbet
Empty the Kool-Aid package into a punch bowl. Add the sugar, then the water and stir until dissolved. Stir in the orange juice. Just before serving, add the soda and float the scoops of sherbet on top.
Make Chocolate-covered gargoyle boils:
(serve in coffin shaped boxes with original poetry like Boris’)
1 C peanut butter (crunchy or smooth, your choice)
½ C honey
1 ¼ C puffed rice cereal
Mix ingredients in large bowl. Roll into gargoyle boils and place on waxed paper (if it’s too sticky, just add more cereal). Dip into melted chocolate and cool in refrigerator on waxed paper for a couple of hours.
Teacher’s guide created by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer.