THE KNIGHTS OF THE KITCHEN TABLE

Jon Scieszka

About the work

This book is a very good introduction to the fantasy of the Middle Ages and the world of its
characters known for their exploits, legends and adventures. Camelot reflects a world where
values such as justice, loyalty, and kindness confront evil forces and supernatural beings that
represent anti-values.

Beto has two friends, Sergio and Pacho. In addition to the two friends, Beto has a magician uncle
who sends him a magic book for his birthday. A book that, when opened, transports the three
friends and the reader to the time of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. As soon as
they enter this distant era, they confront the Black Knight and other medieval characters. For
succeeding in these confrontations, King Arthur names them Knights of the Round Table. Just as by
the grace of a 20th century magician they travel in time, by the grace of another magician, Merlin,
they are returned to their time of origin.

Author Information:

Jon Scieszka is a teacher at a school in Manhattan, New York. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and
two children, and is the author of other books about the trio of Pacho, Beto and Sergio. The
illustrator, Lane Smith, collaborates with newspapers and magazines. He has been awarded by the
New York Society of Illustrators.

1. Motivation for reading

Not all books have the property of transporting the reader in time to other times or other places.
This is a clear example of the book as a door to other worlds. Surely you as a teacher have
discovered the magic of reading and have let yourself be carried away by the wonderful world of
fantastic characters and beings. If you have achieved it, you will understand the importance of
fostering in your students fantasy and the ability to get entangled between the threads of stories.
Ask your students if they have read a book that made them travel through time and space. Write
the titles of the works and allow those who read them to comment on their emotions. Present The
Knights of the Kitchen Table as a story that will take you back in time and involve you in a series of
adventures typical of the time of Camelot, King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, etc.
Propose the children to read the book individually and at home.

2. Text Extension Activities

The Knights of the Kitchen Table

Preparing to Play "Prepare to die" is the Black Knight's favorite phrase when facing the three
friends. “Get ready to play” can be the motivational phrase to enter the fascinating medieval
world. Before proposing the activity itself, allow the children to express their impressions about
the book. Ask: Who knows stories about King Arthur and his knights? Have you seen movies or
have books on the subject? Establish a dialogue. Collect films, books and other materials that
allow children to learn about medieval times, taking into account their age: how they dressed, the
castles, the different jobs, what the enemies were, how books were written, etc. "Prepare to play"
proposes that children in groups build a castle with waste material like Camelot, a medieval
village, and that they make the main characters from the legends of King Arthur in plasticine. This
in order to play the adventures of the knights and tell their stories.

The magic book opens in the stone age Development On page 65, Pacho, who is playing baseball
with his friends, makes the following comment: «We have to get out of here. "This is like the Stone
Age." What would happen if the three friends opened the magic book to a page from the Stone
Age? Who would they meet instead of the Black Knight?

This activity proposes that children, with your help, research in the library or bring materials from
home about this era. From the information collected, make an illustration on the topic. This will be
the beginning of another adventure for the three friends. The magic book is opened in the Stone
Age and you travel to this time where adventures will necessarily happen and from where you will
emerge by the work and grace of a magician of the time. Depending on the age of the children,
consider whether this story should be created collectively or in small groups.

Guessing Contest:

Development:
Sergio challenges the giant with riddles. Challenge your students to play riddles in two teams.
Initially establish the rules of the game. It would be fun if as penance they had to tell stories about
giants and dragons.

Abra Cadabra
Development The wizard Merlin was the most famous in the kingdom. With the arrival of the
three friends, Merlin felt a little displaced and asked the children to show their skills. Invite your
students to perform a magic session. Prepare the tricks and ask someone to act as a jury. The
winner will be named Class Magician and will have to surprise his classmates with a star trick.

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

Mathematics area
Have the children define what a circle is. Remember the distance measurements, taking into
account those greater and less than 1 meter. Review conversions. Leave the room. Measure
distances and experience the expression so many kilometers around. Analyze what you see. Ask
the children to make a list that represents the places they observed. Get children to think about
very lonely places and what types of things are found there. Compare with what was observed in
the city, and draw conclusions.

Language area:
Mention the different regions of the country of residence. Brainstorm the different ways they
speak in each of those regions. Define what accent, intonation, etc. are. Invite the children to
imitate the inhabitants of the different regions. Analyze the most common expressions and sayings
of each of these regions. Allow students to express what they think of them and what they find
funny and what they don't. If possible, ask them to write a short dialogue illustrating the different
ways of speaking.

Ask students to express what they think is going to happen to regionalisms, whether they will last
or be lost and what this could be due to, whether it is due to the media, technology, etc.

Natural sciences area:

Define what an ecosystem is. Mention their different names and their respective locations.
Take the children to carry out a small investigation where they determine what each of the
ecosystems was like a while ago, 20, 30, 50 years ago. Ask to mention figures, names of species,
etc. If possible, invite students to show which species have disappeared, which are about to
disappear, and which are threatened. Compare the different ecosystems and, according to what
has been researched, deduce which ecosystems have been most attacked by man, and think about
whether corrective measures are already being taken at a global and regional level to stop the
destruction and initiate recovery. For those ecosystems that are little destroyed, ask students to
think of strategies that will allow them to prevent the same thing from happening to the most
destroyed ones.

Area and Social Sciences:

Review what a myth and a legend are. Have each child present his or her own definition. Imagine
and define what a giant is and how you imagine it physically and behaviorally.
Ask to do research on legends that tell about giants. What was their role in the different cultures,
where they came from, how they came and what they came from. Compare similarities and what
they came from. Compare similarities and differences and share them with everyone, drawing the
relevant conclusions. Relate this to the need to explain the origins of people from unknown places.
Stimulate the children's imagination, thinking about what the giants would teach us in the current
moment of our society or our culture. Accept supported answers.

Securities Area:
Ask the children which of them eat some of the meals of the day in the company of their parents.
Also, find out who has regular family gatherings.
Analyze these meals, if they are special, if different menus are made, if different family members
are involved in their preparation, and how they are consumed. Share similarities and differences
and analyze the reasons for them.
"Nothing makes kids laugh like a joke that twists things." -Jon Scieszka American author of
illustrated albums and fiction books, born in 1954 in Michigan, United States, and considered one
of the most popular in the current panorama of children's literature. An elementary school teacher
like his father, with a master's degree in creative writing from Columbia University, Scieszca draws
inspiration from his students to create his books. The principle that guides his work, he repeats
again and again, is "Never underestimate the intelligence of the audience."

Scieszka is known for his parodies of traditional fairy tales and classic fiction. Blending familiar
concepts and characters with twists and modern language, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs,
illustrated by Lane Smith, retells the traditional story from the perspective of the imprisoned wolf.
And in The Frog King. Continuation (1991) offers a version of the story in which the prince and
princess do not live happily ever after: he misses his life as a batrachian and they both decide to
become toads at the end of the story.

His mix of classic and modern references with humor continues successfully in The Gentlemen of
the Kitchen Table, part of a trilogy with Pacho, Beto and Sergio as protagonists.

With an agile reading pace, the writer describes how the three boys, through a magical book, are
transported to King Arthur's England and there they must face dirty giants, dangerous dragons and
the wrath of the wizard Merlin. Scieszka states that this publication filled a gap in the offering of
works for readers in transition between illustrated albums and narratives divided into chapters.

Through a magic book, and without even suspecting it, Pacho, Beto and Sergio find themselves
wrapped in a smoke screen and transported to the court of King Arthur, in the middle of the
Middle Ages. Fantasy and adventure will transport readers to a world where values such as
justice, loyalty and kindness confront characters who represent anti-values. This absorbing story
introduces children to the complex world of medieval chivalry and invites them to reflect on the
differences between that time and today.

SUMMARY JOSE JORGE

THE KNIGHTS OF THE KITCHEN TABLE
This work was written by Jon Scieszka, it is divided into 10 chapters, which we will see
below.

Beto and his Friends Sergio, and Pacho were inseparable. Before Beto's birthday party he
got lost with his friends Pancho and Sergio, on the way they met a black knight, he was a
big guy, dressed in black armor, sword and shield, he was riding a horse, when They saw
him very close and immediately thought that they were going to die at the hands of the
man with a pen.

Do you know what happened on Beto's birthday? Beto had a magician uncle called “Beto
the Magnificent” who on his birthday gave him a magic book, or rather a machine
disguised as a book, which when opened enveloped the three friends in a cloud of smoke,
and they were transported to the time of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere and the Knights
of the Round Table.

Initially they appeared at the end of a path, where they met the black knight again,
confronted him and defeated him with a piece of oak wood.

Then three knights appeared; Lancelot, Parsifal and Gawain, called the Knights of the
Round Table, who took Beto, Pacho and Sergio to King Arthur's Castle Camelot to fight the
Dragon Smaug and the Giant Bleob; since they considered that by having defeated the
dark knight he had freed them from a plague, and therefore they could also free them
from these two plagues that wanted to destroy the castle.

Sergio then came up with a fantastic idea for the two to meet and in the midst of shock,
he belched, gas, bit, and buried iron claws, a flame lance, the two became entangled with
the tail of the dragon which had wire spike. When all these elements collided, a great
explosion occurred, the body parts of the giant and the dragon fell to pieces to the
ground, in this way they saved the Castle of Camelot and the honor of the Knights, by
emerging victorious from these confrontations, King Arthur names them Knights of the
Round Table

Finally, Merlin's wizard appears with the magic book in his hands, the one that Uncle Beto
“the magnificent” had given to Beto. It was the same one Merlin used to send them back
home.

The main characters in this story are:

Beto: His real name was José Humberto, and he called himself Mr. Beto the Magnificent
Sergio: he was one of Beto's friends, who called him Mr. Sergio the stranger.
Pacho: Beto's friend who gave him the stage name Mr. Pacho the Impressive, who
believed himself to be a hero.

Among the secondary characters we find:

Beto's sister : Who gave him a baseball.

Beto's mom: who didn't really like the gift her uncle gave her. And who calls Beto by his
real name.
The black knight : he was a big guy, dressed in black armor, sword and shield
The three knights: Lancelot, Parsifal, Gawain, were the Knights of the Round Table
Dragon Smaug: was located east of Castle Camelot,
Bleob Giant: It was located west of Camelot Castle.
King Arthur:
The Queen of Geneva
The wizard Merlin: he was the most famous in the kingdom. With the arrival of the three
friends, Merlin felt a little displaced and asked the children to show their skills.

The main idea of this book is framed in the fantasy and imagination of the three children
transported to another time and in the world of its characters known for their exploits,
legends and adventures.

My opinion about reading this work, I found it fun and interesting, its stories and creative
drawings helped to recreate my imagination, highlighting the adventures experienced by
these three children, and each of their characters.

Camelot reflects a world where values such as justice, loyalty, bravery, kindness, and
friendship confront evil forces and supernatural beings that represent anti-values, that is,
evil, wanting to destroy a place or a person, etc.

Teaching this story we must really learn to work as a team to overcome the difficulties
that arise and with efforts achieve great things in life. "Union make force".

Within time it was found that this work was written and published in the United States in
1992; also that the space or place where the events happened were various: initially in the
kitchen, followed by the forest, dusty roads, Camelot Castle.

GLOSSARY:
Adepts: Affiliated with some sect or association
Assented: to agree with a proposal from another.
Emphasis: Way of expressing a person with affectation in tone, gestures or words
Spurred: Stir the horse with the spur
Hinges: articulated metal plates that allow the opening and closing of doors and
windows
Snorting: Snorting an irritated animal
Mist: Fog, especially that which forms over the sea:
Shuffling: Mixing the cards in a deck before dealing them out to play.
Evoke: Bring something to memory or imagination
Skirt: Bottom of some clothing items that hangs from the waist:
Pit: Large hole in the ground
Galloping: riding at the horse's fastest gait
Moaned: To produce a sound similar to a human moan by an animal or inanimate
thing.
Rogues: a person who uses his cunning to deceive or commit minor crimes
Jaleo: Encourage with claps, gestures and voices
Lares: art of cooking where fire is made
Murmuring: Speaking under your breath expressing complaint or displeasure about
something.
Glance: Quick or superficial look
Hasty: Acting without reflection and in a crazy way
Stinging: That gives stings or pricks
Wheezing: Giving an absent person signs of life
Silhouettes: Profile or outline of a figure
Sonsonetes : Sound resulting from hitting soft and repeated blows with a certain
rhythm
Wobble: Moving something from one side to another due to lack of stability or
balance:
Vile: Low, despicable, evil or poorly corresponding to the trust placed in her
Visor: Front part of the cap and other similar clothing to protect eyesight from the
sun.

ESTEBAN SUMMARY

Beto along with his friends, Sergio and Pacho are the protagonists of this
story. In addition to the two friends, Beto has a magician uncle who sends
him a magic book for his birthday. A book that when opened transports the
three friends to the time of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
before reaching the distant place "Camelot Castle", they face the Black
Knight, whom they defeat by giving him a blow with insignificant stick, then
to the Dragon and the Giant. For that brave feat, King Arthur names them
Knights of the Round Table. After all this, the only thing these boys longed for
was to return home and be able to enjoy all the things they couldn't find in
Camelot. Merlin definitely returns them. to their place of origin, they arrive
home happy with the desire to play.

SUMMARY SAMUEL

Beto and his best friends Pacho and Sergio are inseparable. On Beto's
birthday something strange happened to him when he received a magical
book from his uncle Beto “the Magnificent” as a gift. This book upon opening
enveloped the three children in a screen of smoke and they were transported
to the Camelot castle of King Arthur, the queen of Guinevere, and the knights
of the round table.

As soon as they arrive he has to face the black knight, the giant and a dragon
and the wrath of the wizard Merlin.

Sergio made the giant fight the dragon and in the end they disappeared,
freeing the kingdom from all danger.

In gratitude, King Arthur named them the knights of the round table.

Suddenly Merlin's wizard appeared with the magic book in his hands and it
was with that that Beto, Pancho and Sergio were able to return to their
house, happy to have lived this adventure.

He is Beto and his best friends Pacho and Sergio, they are inseparable. On Beto's birthday
something strange happened to him when he received a magical book from his uncle Beto “the
Magnificent.” This book upon opening enveloped the three children in a screen of smoke and they
were transported to the Camelot castle of King Arthur, the queen of Guinevere, and the knights of
the round table.
As soon as they entered there, they faced the black knight, the giant, a dragon and the wrath of
the wizard Merlin.
Sergio made the giant fight the dragon and in the end they disappeared, freeing the kingdom from
all danger.
In gratitude, King Arthur named them the knights of the round table.
But the question was how would they return to their home and their time? At that moment
Merlin's wizard appeared there and had in his hands the magic book that Uncle Beto the
Magnificent had given to Beto. With the help of the wizard Merlin and his magic, Beto, Pancho
and Sergio were finally able to return home, happy to have lived this adventure.