Kindness is Key

Curse in Reverse

Written by: Tom Coppinger

Illustrated by: Dirk Zimmer

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2003

40 pages

International Fiction

Agnezza, an old witch, visits the town of Humburg. She is in need of a place to stay but gets rejected time after time by people. These people are not just any people, they are wealthy people with plenty of room to let Agnezza in; the issue is that they "do not like witches." With hurt in her heart, she places a curse on each person. She comes up to a small house owned by Mr. and Mrs. Tretter. They let Agnezza in, feed her, and give her a bed to sleep in. This couple did not have much; they had one bed and limited food. They have longed for a child but have not been able to have one. Because of their kindness, Agnezza puts a curse on them, a curse in reverse. She calls it "The Curse of the One-armed Man." Why would she curse them if they went out of their way for her? Mr. and Mrs. Tretter have a child but are in fear of this curse to reveal itself. What will happen to this new family?

The illustrations in this book are created with pen, ink, and watercolor. The texture is rough and scratched. A wide variety of color is used. The lines are curved, straight, curly, and jagged.

I chose mathematics as my subject and Kindergarten as my grade. I would have the kids work on their counting by having them count up amounts of certain objects on pages. For example, I would have them count the number of birds on pages 1 or 11. I could have them count the stars on pages 5 or 6. I can also ask how many animals they see on page 16.