A Bad Case of Stripes

David Shannon

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After she refuses to eat her lima beans, Camilla finds herself covered with stripes. The stripes change

into stars, polka dots, and other patterns. Camilla overcomes her "illness" when

she learns to be herself.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.3 Describe charac-ters in a story (e.g., their traits, motiva-

tions, or feelings) and explain how their actions contrib-

ute to the sequence of events

Describe Camilla in this story and why she acts the way she does and why

her body goes through all of the changes it does.

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Introduction:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXM9MrmvHoQ

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Camilla Cream loved lima beans. But she never ate them. All of her friends hated lima beans, and she wanted to fit in. Camilla was always worried about what other people thought of her. Today she was fretting even more than usual. It was the first day of school, and she couldn’t decide what to wear. There were so many people to impress! She tried on forty-two outfits, but none seemed quite right. She put on a pretty red dress and looked in the mirror. Then she screamed.

Check Answer

How come Camilla never ate lima beans?

A. She didn’t like the way they tasted

B. Her friends hated them and she wanted to fit in

C. They made her feel sick

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Her mother ran into the room, and she screamed, too. “Oh my heav-ens! She cried,“You’re completely covered with stripes!” This was certainly true. Camilla was stripped from head to toe. She looked like a rainbow. Mrs. Cream felt Camilla’s forehead “Do you feel alright?” she asked. “I feel fine,” Camilla answered,“but just look at me!” “You get back in bed this instant,”her mother ordered. “You’re not go-ing to school today.” Camilla was relieved. She didn’t want to miss the first day of school, but she was afraid of what the other kids would say. And she had no idea what to wear with those crazy stripes.

Check Answer

Why was Camilla relieved that she didn’t have to go to school?

A. She was afraid of what the other kids would say about her

B. She was feeling sick

C. She didn’t do her home-work

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That afternoon, Dr. Bumble came to examine Camilla. “Most extraor-dinary!” he exclaimed. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Are you hav-ing any coughing, sneezing, runny nose, aches, pains, or uncontrolla-ble twitching?” “No,” Camilla told him. “I feel fine.” “Well then,” Dr.Bumble said, turning to Mrs. Cream, “I don’t see any reason why she shouldn’t go to school tomorrow. Here’s some ointment that should help clear those stripes in a few days. If it doesn’t, you know where to reach me.” And off he went.

Check Answer

Why did the Dr. say Camilla could go to school to-morrow?

A. because her friends missed her

B. she needed to get her grades up

C. because she was not sick she only had stripes.

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Check Answer

A. the kids kept yelling out different shapes and colors.

B. she colored on herself

C. she changed them herself on purpose

The other kids thought this was great. One yelled out, “Let’s see some purple polka dots!” Sure enough, Camilla turned all purple polka-dotty. Someone else shouted, “Checkerboard!” and a pattern of squares covered her skin. Soon everyone was calling out different shapes and colors, and poor Camilla was changing faster than you can change channels on T.V.

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“Hmm, well, yes, I see,” Dr. Bumble mumbled when Mr.Cream phoned the next day. “I think I’d better bring in the Specialists. “We’ll be right over.” About an hour later, Dr. Bumble arrived with four people in long white coats. He introduced them to the Creams. “This is Dr.Grop, Dr. Sponge, Dr. Cricket, and Dr. Young.” Then the Specialist went to work on Camilla. They squeezed and jabbed, tapped and tested. It was very un-comfortable. “Well. It’s not the mumps,” concluded Dr. Grop. “Or the measles,” said Dr. Sponge. “Definitely not chicken pox,”put in Dr. Cricket. “Or sunburn,” said Dr. Young. “Try these,” said the Specialists. They each handed her a bottle filled with different colored pills. “Take one of each before bed,” said Dr. Grop.

They filed out the front door, followed by Dr. Bumble.

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That night, Camilla took her medicine. It was awful. When she woke up the next morning, she did fell different, but when she got dressed, her clothes didn’t fit her right. She looked in the mirror, and there, staring back at her , was a giant, multi-colored pill with her face on it.

Check Answer

Why did Camilla turn into a pill?

A. she was playing dress up

B. that is what the Dr's gave her.

C. the doctors cast a spell on her

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The Creams were swamped with all kinds of remedies from psychologists, allergists, herbalists, nutritionists, psychics, an old medicine man, a guru, and even a veterinarian. Eachso-called cure only added to poor Camilla’s strange appearance until it was hard to even recognize her. She sprouted roots and berries and crystals and feathers and a long furry tail. But nothing worked.

Check Answer

Why did Camilla start to grow fuzzy little virus balls and squiggly little bacteria tails?

A. she refused to take a bath

B. she was really sick

C. it what the specialists guessed was Camilla's problem.

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One day, a woman who called herself an Environmental Therapist claimed she could cure Camilla. “Close your eyes,” she said. “Breathe deeply, and become one with your room.” “I wish you hadn’t said that,” Camilla groaned. Slowly, she started to melt into the walls of her room. Her bed became her mouth, her nose was a dresser, and two paint-ings were her eyes. The therapist screamed and ran from the house. “What are we going to do?” cried Mrs. Cream. “It just keeps getting worse and worse!” She began to sob.

Check Answer

Why did the old lady give Camilla lima beans?

A. Camilla lied about lik-ing them and the old lady thought that if she admitted she liked them she could change back.

B. she heard that Camilla only ate them

C. she was making fun of Camilla

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Check Answer

Why did Camilla not care that the kids thought she was weird?

A. all of the kids started to like lima beans, so they were cool

B. she ate her lima beans and never got a case of the stripes again.

C. she knew she would have stripes forever

Afterward, Camilla wasn’t quite the same. Some of the kids at school said she was weird, but she didn’t care a bit. She ate all the lima beans she wanted, and she never had even a touch of stripes again.

Activity! Watch the video below:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za9GXTbplZw

Now as a class, discuss how we can make our own Bad Case of Stripes video. Discuss who will be who and how to make it a fun video.

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! "The Picture Book Teacher's Edition: A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon." The Picture Book Teacher's Edi-tion: A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

 ! "The Picture Book Teacher's Edition: A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon." The Picture Book Teacher's Edi-tion: A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

"StoryTubes - A Bad Case of Stripes." YouTube. YouTube, 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

"A Bad Case Of Stripes By David Shannon." YouTube. YouTube, 12 Jan. 2013. Web. 09 Dec. 2013

Sources