5th-6th Grade Read Aloud

Death by Eggplant
by Susan Heyboer O'Keefe
Published by Macmillan
Copyright 2004

Suggested Delivery: Read aloud

Reading Level: Lexile level 720L, guided reading level T

Vocabulary: differnt culinary vocabulary

Awards: none

"All Bertie wants to do is cook. Well, actually, become a Certified Master Chef, host his own prime-time cooking show, own a four-star restaurant, and write a best-selling cookbook. Cooking is Bertie’s big secret. His business-obsessed dad wants him to become an accountant. His New Age mom wants him to become a dream analyst. His math teacher wants him to repeat eighth grade. And his mortal enemy just wants him dead. Will Bertie find the courage to reveal his passion for cooking? Will his bravery win him the girl? Will he turn the tables on the class bully and get his revenge? Or will Bertie chicken out and spend the rest of his life analyzing the dreams of his fellow accountants?"-Amazon.com






This book is upbeat, hysterical, silly, quirky, and inspirational for little readers who have big dreams, even though there might be some things standing in your way!

Pre-Reading Activity: Ask the students what they think to the title means. They can use their literal and inferential comprehension to look at the the words head on, but look into the possible deeper meaning of it as well. Will the mean character literally die from an eggplant? Or is there another reasonsing for the title? Open it up for discussion.

During Reading Activity: As students read they can put themselves in the perspective of someone other than Bertie. They can choose Bertie's mother, Nick, or even Cleo the flour sack. Students can answer the following question as a bookmark, "How is this person/object affecting Bertie's grade and overall dream of becoming a famous chef?"

Post Reading Activity: As a further extension on the book, students can actually try out what it is like to take care of a fake baby. Give each students an egg. They can name their egg, draw a face on their egg, whatever they would like. The students must take the egg home over the weekend and take care of it as if it was an actual baby. When they return the teacher can talk with the students about what it was like for them to take care of it. Was it hard? Was it easy? What if you had to paired up with a bully? Would the assignment become easier or harder?

Writing Activity: The students can answer the following question in one or two paragraphs, "Bertie has a life long dream to become a famous chef. Have you ever had a dream of doing something, but something stood in the way of it? Did you overcome the obstacle in your way? How? Explain."

Electronic Resources: 


Culinary Institute of America
This is a website for students to look
at the Culinary Institute of America. They
can see what it's about, take a virtual
tour of the school, and possible classes
one could take if they attend the school. If
a child is interested in becoming a chef like
Bertie, this could be a school in their futures!


How To Take Care of a Flour Sack Baby
This website teaches students the reasons
behind why the flour sack baby project was
created and what values it teaches us. The 
website contains guidelines and expectations 
for taking care of a flour sack baby. Students
can use this sight as a model if they ever
have to do the same project in eighth grade.