Creative Teaching Resources for
by Sheila Burnford (1960)
An inquisitive Labrador retriever, a friendly bull terrier, and a courageous Siamese cat set out through the Canadian wilderness to find their owner in this truly “incredible” adventure. The retriever knows their home lies west, and leads the terrier and cat through dangerous episode of hunger, thirst, weather, elements, confrontations with wildlife and unfriendly humans, and more. Together, the three house pets make their way home to the family they love. This thrilling, unforgettable tale is the beloved book that inspired the movie Homeward Bound. As is true with almost every classic, it's even better than the movie.
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Here's a fantastic video biography by Jonquil Burnford, the author's daughter.
A LitWits activity from the Exposition
This story starts off with missing information—the second page of John Longridge's note to the housekeeper, Mrs. Oakes. If only she'd known he was just taking the pets for a run! But even as we cringe, we know the lost page is the real story-starter. If that page hadn't been destroyed, not a single step of The Incredible Journey would ever have happened.
When Sheila Burnford wrote her story, she worded the two-page note so that the first page seemed complete on its own. When kids do the same, they can, like real authors, imagine what new stories might ensue.
INSTRUCTIONS
These instructions are for doing the activity as a class. As another option, you could have the kids work in pairs, with one partner writing page 1 or 2 first, and the second partner coming up with the other.
1. Have the kids address a note to someone who needs to get important information—for instance, a note to a babysitter. Then compose a sentence or two of what seems to be complete information, as John Longridge did on his note's first page. Example: Hi Katie! Thanks so much for babysitting tonight. Miriam is such an easy, happy baby!
2. Talk about the expectations that page 1 sets, and brainstorm as a class what the reader still doesn't know.
3. Then have your kids write sentence(s) that the reader would need. Example: Just be sure she has her rubber ducky, or she'll scream nonstop the entire 6 hours we're gone. Thanks again! Have fun with our sweetie!
4. Let your writers share aloud, if they like. Talk about the possible stories that could come from those sentences, if their character was missing page 2!
As a memento from the story, you might want to give each child the surviving page of John's note, pictured above.
A LitWits activity from the Conflict
No sooner has John Longridge pulled out of the driveway than Luath is on his heels—or rather, his wheels—and the terrier and cat are right behind him, following their leader, heading toward their family's home.
From here on, this story is all about the three friends tracking their family, and making tracks across Ontario, and tracking food, and keeping track of each other. So we had the kids make some tracks themselves!
This "piece of the forest floor" then becomes a perfect platter for serving BookBites, as you'll see in the next activity. 😉
SUPPLIES
real or faux autumn leaves
small pine cones
a feather or two (no tugging at the parakeet)
brown cardstock (half-sheet)
blue paper (about 3x3) (or color white paper with paint, crayon, etc.)
glue
scissors
DIRECTIONS
Here's a little video showing you how to put this project together:
BookBites
A LitWits activity from the Rising Action
BookBites is the part of our literary experience when we get to “taste the story.” We choose a food right out of the book, and it has to be unusual, or important to a plot point, or have thematic significance. Ideally, it hits on all three.
For this book, what could be more important to the plot and theme than survival food? And what represents survival food better than the WORST, and most unfamiliar food you'll eat if you're hungry enough?
Isn't Luath's brief taste of deer droppings a great example of that? (Ch. 4, par. 1)
Yes it is. And yes we did.
Of course, Sun-Maid® was on hand to sugar-coat these "trailside tasties," so (for one thing) the kids wouldn't spit them out like Luath did. But we didn't tell them until they'd actually bought in to "doing what the characters did."
Luath does catch a goggle-eyed frog or three, and Bodger has some tasty raspberries from a vine a little earlier, so we included those too. (Ch. 3, par 1)
SUPPLIES
Sun-Maid® chocolate yogurt covered raisins, 6-oz box covered with our Trailside Tasties label
real or candied raspberries
doggy bag label
DIRECTIONS
We packaged up these goodies in a doggy bag and had the kids eat them off the forest floor (see our "Makin Tracks" project, above) like the dogs did, without using their paws. This was an exceptionally big hit. Watch the video above to see the whole setup.
A LitWits activity from the Rising Action
Our kids weren't familiar with the Canadian wildlife mentioned in this story, so we put pictures on our vocabulary worksheet and showed them videos of those animals "sounding off" as we identified each on the worksheet. These are the sounds that Luath, Bodger, and Tao would have heard, so it was fun to hear them ourselves, and see the wild beauty of these creatures.
A LitWits activity from the Falling Action
For those of us who love birds, it's a little hard to read about Tao's hunting success, even though we know the three pets' survival depended on it. We do think, though, that as a form of restitution, we can make it a little easier for our feathered friends to survive.
SUPPLIES
vegetable shortening or peanut butter
moss
DIRECTIONS
This is pretty simple, but heres a video to make it even simpler:
PREVIEWS BELOW
Throughout our workshops, we weave in worksheets that help kids process ideas in written form. For The Incredible Journey, the kids used our six worksheets to:
follow the narrative arc
figure out where the journey took place, more precisely
describe a goofy animal like Sheila Burnford did
learn the names of some Canadian creatures
do some research for historical writing, as John Longridge would have done
consider the importance of what's missing in this story, in terms of plotting
These worksheets and all our activity printables are included in our printables set—click the red button for previews and details. Whenever we add new worksheets and printable to this set, they'll automatically show up in your account.
The worksheets and printables used for our activities are sold as a complete set.
Common Core State Standards Alignment for the comprehensive use of our teaching ideas and materials is also included for grades 3, 4, 5 and 6.
As nature nuts and animal lovers ourselves, all we needed to make The Incredible Journey a "must-read" was a happy ending. Thank you, Sheila Burnford, for that! We also feel close to her because she's Scottish, as our ancestors were, and we can appreciate her appreciation of the great outdoors. But most of all, we chose to LitWit this book because its characters look out for each other, and persevere, and step up to lead as necessary.
In our workshops, we did our best to make these teaching points tangible, meaningful, and memorable in the kids' hands. It's amazing how much kids can learn while they're "just" having fun!
Happy teaching!
Becky & Jenny
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Takeaway 1
Bodger, Luath,and Tao are in this together, no question, and each steps up to help out in every way possible. But it's Luath who leads the way after John Longridge leaves, and it's Luath who shows the most caution and wisdom throughout the story, and it's Luath who comes closest to death at a critical time. Only one character can be the protagonist, and in this story, it's Luath who steps up to lead. Talking about the ways he stands out can lead to good conversations about what makes a leader a leader.
Takeaway 2
If any one of these characters had given up and laid down to die, or turned around, this would have been a different (and very sad) story. And any one of them might have, if not for the encouragement and aid of the others—something worth remembering when our fellow creatures are in need, whether two- or four-legged. The ability to persevere, and to help others do so, simultaneously demonstrates both determination and compassion. Such great lessons for all of us, especially as challenges arise.
Takeaway 3
All three of the friends, along with their humans and many others throughout the journey, look out for each other in literal and figurative ways. This model of caring, and of taking care, is one to which every one of can aspire. Nothing enhances the chance of a happy ending like caring!
The Incredible Journey is chock-full of other subjects to explore, too—from Canadian wildlife to the original people of Ontario and more Scroll down to see our curated Learning Links for more tangential teaching opportunities, and to see how we brought this book and its ideas to life.
Explore these links to supplement your reading experience, research points of interest, and prompt tangential learning opportunities.
About the Book & Author
Read reviews / buy book on Amazon*
"The Long Walk Home - biography by Sheila Burnford's daughter (video)
Biography - Britannica Kids
Biography - City of Thunder Bay
Summary and reviews of book - Goodreads
Reviews - Common Sense Media
Story Supplements
Map of Ontario / Lake Windigo - Wikipedia
"Escape to the Stunning Wilderness of Ontario" with First Nations (3:26 video) - NatGeo
About the Labrador Retriever breed (video) - Animal Planet
About the Siamese cat breed (video) - The Leo
About one English Bull Terrier (video) - Cuddle Buddies
Hilariously happy, ugly smiles of English bull terriers - The Paws
About the aboriginal peoples of Ontario, including the Ojibwa - KFL&A
Fascinating facts about shrews - Nature.org
Grosbeak (video) -
Booming bitterns (video) - RSPB
Canada jay song call(video) - Charismatic Planet
Water shrews (video) - CBC
Shrews - The Canadian Encyclopedia
Are Shrews Venomous? - Critter Control
Shrewd shrew mom has parenting down! (video)- Rumble Viral
Shrew sounds (video) - Wild Ambience
Northern Lynx Sounds (video) - Animal Sounds
Meet the Fisher (video, school presentation by ranger) - CT White Memorial
Fisher “cat” sounds (video) - Nature Magazine
When choosing props for our live workshops, we always try to focus on two important categories: props that are unique to the setting, because they help kids understand “what that was like,” and props that are symbolic of themes, because they make big ideas visual and tangible. Both kinds of props generate those wide-eyed, “aha!” moments.
Below is an overview of the "forest foliage and feathers" display we put together for our live workshop, along with some close-ups of straight-from-the-story props. You could easily have your kids contribute items to a table over time, as the book is being read.
Sometimes we make a printable prop—click the button to see all our printables for this book.
We offer a slightly different version of this note in our printables set.
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Happy teaching,
Becky and Jenny
Sisters, best friends, and partners
The Becky & Jenny version: Feel free to print pages for teaching use, and make copies of printables for your students. Please don’t use our name, ideas, or materials commercially or share our printables, though we'd love for you to share these free pages with your fellow educators.
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LitWits teaching ideas and materials for The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
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