Ernie's Big Mess

Author/Illustrator: Sarah Roberts/Joe Mathieu

About the Author:

Sarah Roberts is a published American author. She has written children's books such as Ernie's Big Mess.

Genre: Fiction/Life Skills
Grade Level: K-2

Synopsis:
Bert and Ernie are best friends that live together. Ernie is very messy but Bert is very neat.  When Ernie leaves a big mess on the floor and then walks away from it Bert gets really angry and yells at Ernie to clean up.  One day Bert said that he wished he lived alone sometimes.  Ernie decided it was time for him to pack up and leave because Bert wasn’t happy with him anymore.  Ernie stopped by a few of his friends beds but none of them seemed to work out.  Big Bird’s was full of sticks and Grover’s was too small.  Finally Ernie laid down by Oscar’s trash can, when Bert came walking down the street to find Ernie.  The two friends were able to make up and Bert agreed to help Ernie learn to clean up after himself.

Pre Reading Activity:

Before reading have the children discuss in a small group what they think will happen with Ernie’s big mess.

Post Reading Activity:

After reading have the students write what they would have done if they were Bert or Ernie.  Would they change anything or do something differently?  Also, ask the what is the right thing to do?

Reflection:

I think this book would be good to have in a classroom because it relates to children’s everyday lives.  Most parents are constantly asking their kids to clean up their room because it is so messy.  This may teach them the lesson that sometimes being too messy is not good. Also, being mean to people who are messy isn’t nice either.