The Family Under the Bridge

APA Bibliography: Carlson, N. S., & Williams, G. (1989). The Family Under the Bridge. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Readability Lexile: 820L

Book Information: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/family-under-the-bridge-the-by-natalie-savage-carlson/

Genre: Historical Fiction

Author Information: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/199200.Natalie_Savage_Carlson

Illustrator Information: https://www.harpercollins.com/author/cr-100402/garth-williams/

Summary: This story is about a homeless man named Armand, who lives under a bridge. He walks around pushing his belongings and a black dress shoe. One day he finds three children living under his bridge and he becomes upset. The mother of the children had to find some place to stay as they could not afford to pay the rent anymore. Armand goes to find food and is even more upset when the children decide to follow him, but he grows concerned that they must be hungry. So he allows them to come with him to the shopping mall, where his friend works at Father Christmas. To cheer the children up, Armand says to g caroling. As people are passing, they stop by to give coins, which Armand and the children use to buy food. When they get back to the bridge, the mother is upset to find out that Armand had taken the children out like that. Armand finds a place for the little family to stay with the gypsies for a little bit, until the police find out their location. Armand then decided to find a job to support the family. The mother and one for the children make Armand presentable and finds a job, that has a place to live for the whole family. 

Target Audience: The target audience for this book is children in grades 3-5. This book is great about teaching poverty and homeless. It is an early chapter book so it is easy to understand and is not too long of a book. 

Evaluation: I liked this classic story of homelessness and the struggle of people who have no where to go. They live wherever they can find a place. They make the best of everything even when they have very little. The book shows about love in unlikely places.

Reader Response Activity: An activity you can do with this book is to have the students research shelters in your area. You can make this as easy as possible since it is elementary school.