Meet the Characters
Eleven-year-old John’s younger sister, who loves to play hide-and-seek.
Frannie
The place where John and his family used to live before moving to the Dakota Territory.
Chicago
The territory where the family moves
Dakota Territory
What does John see approaching that signals the start of the monster storm?
Black cloud
The wind screamed in his ears.
Personification
John's father, who works hard and dreamed of being a pioneer out west.
Pa/ Mr. Hale
The reason John’s family decided to leave the city to become pioneers
they wanted free land to start a farm
The pests that John's friends tell him about that destroyed the wheat and gardens in previous years.
Grasshoppers
The action the children take to protect themselves as soon as they notice the dark sky.
They ran inside the schoolhouse
The sky exploded like a bomb, blasting snow and ice through the air.
Simile
John’s teacher at the one-room prairie schoolhouse
Miss Ruell
What John misses most about his city life in Chicago.
His friends and city activities (playing baseball, going to the store)
The animal Pa used on the farm to travel to town before winter set in. EXTRA points for his name!
Ox named Shadow
What did the boys notice about the weather as they waited for the snake? The noticed the wind got _________.
colder
You are looking a little green son
Idiom
The three boys John finally makes friends with while hunting King Rattler.
Rex, Peter, and Sven
The family member who stays behind in Chicago because she is sick or doesn't want to move out west.
Grandma
The type of house John and his family built and live in out on the prairie.
Sod house (soddy)
What does Cookie sound like when he howls?
AHWWWOOOOOO
But she ruled over the schoolhouse like a Civil War general.
Simile
he name John and the boys give to the giant, dangerous rattlesnake by the creek.
King Rattler
How old is John Hale?
11
The month of the first, early snowfall that made John realize how dangerous the prairie winter could be.
October
The person who pulls John back inside to safety before he is completely buried in snow.
Miss Ruell
He barely had a chance to take a breath as the churning water grabbed hold of him.
Personification