Mr. Merton's Holiday

Mr Merton’s Holiday is a realistic and humorous fiction story about Mr Merton and his family going on a holiday. Mr. Merton is very organized and likes to keep track of time. Mrs Merton unpacked Mr Merton’s bag and took out the clocks! Mr Merton tried to make a clock with the sand and sun, but a wave washed it away and swept him out to sea. He realized how much fun a holiday can be in the sea! The story is narrated with dialogue, a roster, a list, a scene breaker, and illustrative text.

Mr Merton’s Holiday is a simple narrative story. Critical thinking questions are provided to guide the reader. Illustrations match the text. A visual information guide is provided for teachers to draw students’ attention to the changes in font style and size as well as the purpose, layout, and design. There is an infographic at the end of the book outlining the parts of a narrative including the who, where, when, problem, and solution. An activity on making a roster for their family is provided for teachers to extend students’ learning.

Readers develop vocabulary such as nouns (holiday), verbs (bounce), singular/plural (dish/dishes), and similes. Opportunities arise to discuss apostrophes to show possession (Mr Merton’s holiday) and apostrophes within contractions (I’ll). Focus on short and long vowel i, suffix ful (wonderful), base words (bobbing), prefix un (unpacked), and silent letters (wrote).

This title is from the Sails Literacy series. Hook readers and ignite their curiosity - over 850 levelled texts with bright, colourful, sophisticated designs.