My First Monologue Book: 100 Monologues for Young Children

This book could have numerous classroom applications for students from 2nd-6th grades including public speaking, memorization, journals, storytelling, and lessons on emotions or experiences. Monologue books for older students saturate the market, but Dabrowski offers 100 short, children-driven monologues that encompass a child's known universe (organized into games, families, food, friends, wishes). Each monologue "sounds" like a child speaks (short simple sentences with an easy vocabulary), and the students' limited life experience will not prohibit them from understanding each monologue. The experiences and the emotions in the monologues run the gamut from funny to serious. Though the "crisis" in each monologue may seem laughable to an adult, they are exactly what elementary school students think about, fear, and wish for. Included in these monologues is Mary Jane (p. 76) a hilarious tale of a little girl speaking to a nun and who realizes too late that she has said too much, a treaty on broccoli (Hannah p. 61) which is reminiscent of Shel Silverstein's "I'm Sick and I Can Not Go to School Today", a story about a boy who hates math and is hiding in the bathroom in order to avoid the teacher (Will p. 83), and Emmett's lament about his bossy older sister (p. 41). While there are other monologue books for elementary children (Minute Monologues by Ruth Roddy, 71 One-Minute Monologues by Janet Milstein, Magnificent Monologues for Kids by Chambers Stevens) Dabrowski's book has monologues that are much shorter and easier to memorize or analyze. This would be a good first purchase for an elementary school.