The Willow Tree's Daughter
Title | The Willow Tree's Daughter |
Series Title | The Floramonde Books |
Author | Pamela Freeman |
Published by | Allen & Unwin |
Date of Publication | 1994 |
Teaching Resources
- This novel started as a collection of short stories, and each chapter is essentially independent. Create a character with your class, or take the character of Basil from The Willow Tree's Daughter, and list a broad outline of their life story, then ask groups to make up narratives about different portions of their life. Have two groups do the same portion, and compare them.
- Create-a-monster. In the chapter 'Thunder-egg', I had to make up a 'creature' that was not human for Betony to meet in the cave. It had to be initially scary. I had no idea what was going to happen in that chapter when I wrote it. All I knew was that Betony would decide at the end to go home. By the time I got to the caves Betony had passed the spiders, which were already pretty scary, so I didn't want to overdo the scare factor with the monster. But what if I had? Create-you-own-monster can be done through writing, drawings, craft, sculpture, Lego, dress-ups and acting out or all of the above.
- Betony does not like 'fussing' and will do whatever she is told because of this. Is it hard to stand up for yourself against adults who want you to act in particular ways? Is it different for boys and girls? If Betony had been a boy, what would the courtiers have wanted him to do to be a 'proper prince'? Why is that different from what they teach Betony?
- Cassandra is a very unsettling kind of grandmother. In Nanna, there is another unsettling grandmother. Compare the grandmothers in the two books. How are they similar? How are they different? (Note to teachers: I had a good relationship with my two grandmothers - Cassandra and Nanna are based on other people I have met.) Collect images of grandparents from the media. How are they usually portrayed? Is this realistic? Do people become 'nice' just because they have grandchildren?
- Betony's mother is effectively a refugee or migrant who cannot go back home. Tell a story from her point of view. Is she lonely? How much harder would her life have been if she could not speak the human language?
- Because Floramonde is a pre-industrial society, all gardening is organic. What elements of organic gardening are mentioned in the book? There is one mistake in the book about gardening - can you guess what it is? Answer: you don't harvest cauliflowers when it is very hot, you do it in the cool of the morning. Of course, Rosie had her reasons... what could they have been?
- Betony's father wants her to marry a prince. Are princes and princesses better than other people? Australians have a Queen. Is the Queen better than other people? How did she get to be Queen? Who will be the next king/queen? Some people in Australia think we should not have a queen at all, but a president. Find out the arguments on both sides. Who do you agree with?