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Series I Book 2: “Moose And The Walrus” Author’s Discussion

by Ray Perseghin, Sara K Enterprises, ©All Rights Reserved

Being different is never easy. This story highlights this fact, in the actions of our Walrus friend as he tries to join our group of friends, already at play. Adjusting to the many differences we encounter in the melting pot of our society, becomes a work in progress for our entire lives. Developing a firm set of personal ground rules is paramount if we are to be successful in dealing with our own reactions to personal differences and prejudices.

In this story, Moose and his fiends welcome a new participant to their games, but fail, initially, to see any problem, just as a child might respond to someone new, without understanding the new person’s point of view. The initial responses are most probably learned from those whom an individual child might imitate ie: parents, siblings, relatives, teacher, and friends with whom they play.

The Walrus in this story, feeling sad that his differences might prevent him from participating because of his inability to jump and sing, responds negatively. He lashes out in anger and tries to bully his playmates in an attempt to improve his stature and personal worth. He bullies the group and becomes belligerent. At issue here is his feeling of assumed rejection. His response is to bully.

Your discussion here should be about the physical differences, anger, name calling, rejection, response to aggressive behavior, understanding individuality, and conflict resolution.

In shock, our group of friends initially respond badly and in kind, with name calling and rejection, as they fail to understand the reason for the actions of the Walrus. This, too, is the unfortunate reality of our children’s responses, as they imitate their own mentor’s daily activities. This is simply a response to the immediate visible action, without the complete understanding of any underlying problem. Only the wise Moose is able to explain, in his defense of Walrus, that “You were just not you.”

Mr Moose promotes a ‘Turn The Other Cheek’ mentality, instead of fighting force with force. The application of this method is probably more appropriate at higher grade levels, but is mentioned here for understanding. In the end, Moose and his friends use teamwork, forgiveness and understanding, to free Walrus of his dilemma. The discussion here should be about how our animal friends were able to bond together and use this teamwork to resolve the physical differences and ultimately overcome the emotional challenges.

This opens the door for a discussion about the use of parents, teachers, guidance counselors and friends in a team effort to resolve issues, rather than taking a more inappropriate path. Future stories will promote this teamwork approach to resolving issues. We hope you enjoy our story.

Above all, Have Fun!

Sara K Enterprises

SUGGESTED QUESTIONS TO GENERATE DISCUSSION:

1. Why do you think the Walrus wanted to join the group?
2. Did you ever try to join a group of people who were already playing a game? Explain what you did and how everyone acted.
3. Why did Walrus act badly after everyone said he could join them?
4. What things made Walrus different from the other friends?
5. What can you do if someone acts badly toward you?
6. Why did the friends want to leave Walrus buried in the snow?
7. Why did Moose want to help Walrus?
8. Would you help Walrus if he acted badly toward you?
9. What do you think Walrus could have done differently?
10. Expain what you do when new people want to join your group while playing.

Let’s play a Moose Game!