Book Guide: The Wild and the Mysterious Time Machine
Who is smuggling prehistoric animals?
April and Kian must stop the animal smuggling, or the order of things will be disrupted. Clocks that go backwards. Giant lizards nibbling on them and buses jumping frogs - how wacky can it get?
Questions about the book
1. When Edda wants to invite April and Kian to her surprise drink, April says no. She says it sounds disgusting. Do you always have to tell the truth or what you think? Why can it be good and why can it be bad?
2. April thinks the great thing about Kian is that he can be afraid of small things, but he never shies away from important things. What important things have you done? How did it feel?
3. Kian and April can gossip to each other's windows, but it only works sometimes because every two weeks Kian lives with his mother. April thinks it seems luxurious to have two rooms. How many rooms do you stay in? What could be luxurious about having two rooms? Is there anything that could be less luxurious?
4. When Karlsson and Karlsson realize how dangerous the lizards are, they regret taking the lizards home. Have you ever regretted it? Do you think one should admit one's regret or try to resolve it so that no one notices?
5. Henrietta hides the boy in a secret maple compartment in the shoe heel. If you had a secret maple drawer, where would it be? What would you hide there?
6. April's bike is a strange maniac that can transform into a flying box that can talk. What strange maniac would you like? What could it do?
7. In the tree outside April and Kian's house, they can be alone and avoid all the annoying adults. Why is it nice to be without adults sometimes? Do you have a place where you can be alone?
8. Why do you think Karlsson and Karlsson do their business with the mysterious person in the church at night and not during the day? Do you like being outside when it's dark? Why or why not?
About the heteronorm and friendship
Young children often play girls and boys together and with all different toys. But the older we get, the more girls are separated from boys by, for example, "girl toys" and "boy toys" or "girl toys" and "boy toys". Many also think that when boys and girls are with each other, they are in love or together. This idea that girls and boys like different things and are expected to be in love with each other is called the heteronorm. In between, standards set that for us. When you encounter stereotypes, remember that it is the norm and the narrow expectations that are wrong, not you. We all get to enjoy the different games we like and create friendships beyond the heteronorm.
About anger
All people feel all kinds of emotions. But gender norms mean that girls and boys often become more comfortable expressing different kinds of emotions. For girls, it is often more okay to show sadness, and less okay to be angry. Anger is an important emotion because it is like a signaling system that shows that something is wrong and gives strength to express it.
Therefore, we all need to practice expressing anger, in ways that do not go out on others, for example physically. How do you usually express your anger?
