The Sweetest Fig

Title: The Sweetest Fig

Author and Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company (http://www.hmhco.com/)

Publication Date: 1993

Genre: Picture Book

Audience: Grades PreK-2

Awards: Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award Winner [Grades 3-8], Rhode Island Children's Book Award

Overview: The Sweetest Fig tells the story of a unkindly dentist named Bibot who takes out the painful tooth of an elderly woman, only to find that she does not have the money to pay for the procedure. Instead, she pays Bibot with two figs that she claims will make his dreams come true. The dentist also has a dog who he does not treat very well. He is very strict and unloving towards him. Well, after eating the first fig Bibot's dream about going out it public in his underwear comes true. So, he decides to concentrate very hard on being the richest man on earth before eating the next fig, hoping to dream of just that. Finally after days of dreaming the right dream, he decides to eat the fig. While his back is turned his dog hops up on the table and gobbles the fig up. The story ends when Bibot wakes up the next morning to find that the magical fig works on dogs too...

Activity: An activity to go with The Sweetest Fig would be to have the students imagine what they would try to dream about, like Bibot tries to dream about being the richest man on earth. This would make a great art activity. You could also bring in figs for students to try, since this is not a very common fruit and many may not have seen or tried one before.

Reviewer's Name: Allison Parsons