Discussion Director

Discussion Director Questions – Sections 2 and 3

-          What evidence supports the fact that the crew on the Never Land think that Captain Pembridge is not a very good commander?

He drinks so much rum that he is not coherent enough to command the crew, and he does not know anything about nautical commands. Page 42

-          Problem/Solution

What was Preston and Harbuckle’s predicament in Chapter 6?  How did they solve this problem? 

They were trying to throw the men overboard because they were ‘dead weight’.  The problem wasn’t solved in this chapter. 

-          Cause/Effect
Why was Peter frightened by the green glowing eyes and a floating rat?

Cause:  He was ambling around the ship in search for food.  Page 56

-         What characteristics would you infer from chapter 7 regarding the kind of personality that Peter has?

Inquisitive, Meddlesome, a good friend

-         Do you agree that Molly should keep her secret about her abilities to talk to animals when Peter confronts her about it? Why or why not?

Answers will vary. Chapter 11.
Discussion Director Questions – Section 4

-          Compare and Contrast

Compare and contrast Black Stache and Captain Scott.  What are their similarities and differences?
Answers may vary.   Page 95-144

-          What are the characteristics of a good Captain? Do you think that Black Stache or Captain Scott is the better captain?

Various answers – Chapter 15  

-          What do you think about Molly’s story? Why do you think that Peter has so much trouble believing it?

Answers will be different – Chapter 20

-          What is the theme in Chapter 27?

Black Stache is very observant.  He can read into people’s mannerisms.

-          What was Peter’s problem on p. 236? How do you predict that Peter will solve his problem?  How would you solve Peter’s problem?

He was trying to find his friends. He will go down to the beach and try to save his friends.

Peter and the Starcatchers

I thought that this book was a great prequel to Peter-Pan. I have neer read the original play version of the story, but the Disney version and this version match up nicely. However, recently Disney has created a set of movies which depict the life and history of Tinkerbell, and because my little girl needs to watch movies like that, I have had the opportunity to see another perspective on how fairies are born. Bradley Raymond, and Jeffery Howard came up with the idea that fairies are born from a baby’s first laugh. I think that I like this idea better because it is more innocent than capturing a bird and altering its form.

I like Dave Berry, and Ridley Pearson’s idea of how Peter became immortal. The fact that the starstuff had to be handled by gold was also very interesting. I want to read the rest of the books to find out how ‘the lost boys’ became immortal as well, because they were in all the Peter Pan stories and they never aged either.

I thought that the character sketches that accompanied the book brought out the important parts of the chapters that it focused upon. My favorite character sketcher to complete was the one for Blackstache because I got to use my own ideas and words rather than relying upon the words that were set for us to use in the other sketches. I do see how this would be useful for a child trying to complete the exercises, and I think that easing them into the process would make them more accompanied to the idea so the wouldn’t feel overwhelmed when it came to the final sketch.