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The Kitchen Window · ages 6-8

The Jelly That Would Not Set

The idea: change one thing at a time, and some answers are a matter of degree.

Read it

One story, three ways: Sprout for a new reader, Grower in short chapters, Reader as a full chapter book. Same plot, same ending.

Five nights, one book

Little children love the same story again. Read this one five nights running, with a different job each night.

  1. Morning 1 — listen.
  2. Morning 2 — say the last words.
  3. Morning 3 — guess: back, or stay?
  4. Morning 4 — try one at breakfast.
  5. Morning 5 — tell it to a toy.

Who is in this book

Every recurring character has a short tune, so you can tell who is on stage before a word is said. The tunes play only when you tap, and the Reading Access sound switch turns them off.

The Honest Page

Which parts of this story are true, stretched or made up?

True

  • Fresh pineapple stops gelatine jelly from setting. Something in it, called bromelain, cuts up the jelly's strands. Source
  • Heat stops it working. Tinned pineapple has been heated, so it does not stop jelly setting, and nor does fresh pineapple that has been simmered first. Source
  • A fair test changes only one thing at a time and keeps everything else the same, so you can tell which change made the difference. Source
  • Three suspects, three bowls, one change in each.
  • Fresh kiwi fruit and papaya do the same to gelatine jelly. Jelly made with agar, which comes from seaweed instead of gelatine, sets even with fresh pineapple. Source

Stretched

  • In the book, Clippa's scissors stand for the thing in pineapple that cuts the jelly. What we simplified: There are no real scissors. Bromelain is too small to see; it works like a cutter that only cuts at certain places, which is why Clippa's one-pattern scissors are a fair picture.

Made up

  • The talking raccoon, owl and crab are made up, and so is Bà Tư's party. Ask a grown-up before using the stove.

Tell it back

Tell the story in your own words: who was there, what went wrong, and what they found out. Then a printable three-bowl fair-test card goes on your belt.

Ring the hammer for someone

Pick this book for someone younger. The link carries only the book, and it will wait for them on the Green.

Across the Table → For the grown-up: the story in three lines, one question to ask, and one thing to do together.