We All Have Gifts to Offer

Frederick by Leo Lionni is one of my favorite children’s books. The story and the illustrations are lovely and stand on their own as a delightful reading and listening experience. But this book does more than tell an interesting story. It also conveys a profound message about the importance of recognizing that everyone has something to contribute to the common good.

Frederick in Lionni’s story is a field mouse who lives with a family of mice near an abandoned granary. As winter approaches, the other field mice work hard gathering grain and nuts. Frederick, however, just sits on a sunny rock. When the other mice complain, Frederick explains how he is gathering sunrays, colors and words as supplies for the cold, dark winter days ahead. Winter comes and the food supply runs low. The mice are cold and disgruntled. That’s when Frederick’s contributions make a difference. The sunrays, the colors and the words warm the hearts of the mice, and their spirits are lifted.

Many people think of Frederick as a book about the value of imagination and creativity—and so it is. But Frederick is also a fable with an important lesson for children. I recently shared Frederick with my two grandchildren—Kya, age 4, and Ryland, age 7. I started by telling them that the story was a fable, a story with a message or lesson that could be important for us. After reading the story, I asked, “What message do you think this story is telling us?” Ryland responded by saying, “Everybody can help in different ways.” Kya added, “Frederick helped with his words; he made the mice feel warm and happy.”

I then invited the children to think about how people are like the family of mice. “Do we have different ways of helping each other?” I asked. Kya and Ryland had no trouble thinking of ways different people helped them and ways in which they were helpful to others.

As a teacher, you can reinforce the message embedded in Frederick in a number of ways. You can discuss how poets, painters and musicians contribute to a community. You might also discuss the meaning of work. Frederick says, “I do work. I gather sun rays for the cold dark winter days.” Is this really work? Does work have to be hard? Is thinking work?

Perhaps the best follow-up activity to the story, however, is to help children appreciate the uniqueness of each other and consider what each has to offer to the class. You might start by having students write on the front side of a sheet of paper one way they noticed how someone is helpful in the classroom. They could then turn the paper over and write one way in which they themselves are helpful to the class. You might ask students to keep the paper for a day or so and add more examples of helpful behaviors as they notice them.

Another follow-up idea is to have students think about and give examples of how other people in their school (principal, office worker, cook, etc.) contribute to the school community. You might do this activity as a group, or, if the children are old enough, they might complete the table on their own or with a partner.

Introducing the concept of the common good is another idea you might use as a follow-up to the story about Frederick. While the term “common good” is not used in the book, you can introduce the term by explaining how Frederick wasn’t concerned just about himself when he gathered sunrays, colors and words. He was working for the benefit of the entire family.

It’s not just students who might benefit from the message in Frederick. It can be helpful for teachers, too, to recognize and share the talents of each other. The following table, with an example, might be helpful.

An important lesson we can all learn from Frederick is that everyone is unique and everyone has gifts they can offer to the community.

Wilson is an educational consultant and curriculum writer.