Children’s Selection

Children’s Selection

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge is a small boy who lives next to a home for old people, all of whom are his friends. His favorite is Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper, because she has four names too. Wilfrid is worried when he hears his parents mention that Miss Nancy has lost her memory. He asks the old people what a memory is, and all of their answers inspire him to fill a basket with objects. When this small boy presents the basket to Miss Nancy, each object sparks a special memory from her childhood.

Recommended for grades PreK – 3.

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About the Author
Mem Fox was an Associate Professor in Literacy Studies at Flinders University in Adelaide (Australia), where she taught teachers for twenty four years until her early retirement in 1996. She has received many civic awards, honours and accolades in Australia, including two honorary doctorates. She has visited the United States over one hundred times, mostly in her role as a literacy expert although she is also a well-known author in America. She is an influential international consultant in literacy, but she pretends to sit around writing full time.

Her latest book is A Giraffe in the Bath. She hopes four year olds, and over, including adults, will adore it.

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Discussion Questions
• Why did each person tell Wilfrid a different answer when he asked, “What’s a memory?”
• What other object could he have collected for something warm? Something that makes you cry? Something that makes you laugh?
• Why does Wilfrid like Miss Nancy the most? (She has four names, just like him). How else are Wilfrid and Miss Nancy alike?