Henry and the Pony Express Chapter 1 ‐ “Left Alone” Comprehension 1. How old is Henry? 2. Who are Ellie and Missy? 3. Why did Mrs. Bevin come to visit Henry? 4. Name two things that caused Henry to be embarrassed when Mrs. Bevin came to the door? 5. What was special about the lone cottonwood tree on the hill? 6. Name the state where the three children were living. 7. When the family left Ohio, where did they hope to end their journey? 8. Why did the trip end early and in a different place? 9. Why did Pa want to continue to Oregon? 10. Where was the pony express station located? 11. What happened to Ma after Pa left for Oregon? 12. What did Henry tell Mrs. Bevin about the twins? 13. Who helped Henry with the burial? 14. What does Henry say to defend his father? 15. What did Pa say he would send when he got to Oregon? 16. Why did Mrs. Bevin think Henry should not count on his father returning? 17. What did Mrs. Bevin think would happen in two months? 18. Now that Ma and Pa were gone, what responsibility did Henry have? Discussion/Activities 1. How did Henry feel about Pa’s decision to go on to Oregon? How would you feel? 2. What problems do you think Henry will have trying to raise the twins alone? 3. How would you describe Mrs. Bevin? What do you think she looked like? 4. Use a map to trace the trip from Ohio to Kansas. How far is it from Kansas to Oregon? 5. Draw a picture of the house as it is described in the story. 6. Research the pony express. Find five facts about it. Vocabulary condolences dugout genuine persuade isolation uprisings shutters territory Henry and the Pony Express Chapter 2 ‐ “Two Small Shadows” Comprehension 1. Why did Henry hurry through his chores? 2. While Henry was doing chores, how did the twins act? 3. What was the name of Charley’s horse? 4. Why didn’t Charley stop at the house before he started working? 5. What job were Charley and Henry doing together? 6. When Henry saw the grave that morning, how did he feel? 7. The twins had a fear. What was it? 8. What was the name of Pa’s horse? 9. Why did Charley go to Hollengberg station once a week? 10. Why was Henry so concerned about the girls? 11. What did Henry do in October? 12. Why did Mrs. Bevin return to the house? Discussion/Activities 1. Ellie and Missy are behaving differently. How concerned would you be about the change in behaviors? What would you do to try and make it better? 2. Describe Charley. 3. What was Henry’s plan for feeding the girls? Do you think you could handle raising two five year olds by yourself? 4. Henry felt better after he dug his first posthole. It seemed to release his anger. What do you do to get rid of your anger? 5. Should Henry be angry with his father? 6. Discuss what you think Henry will tell Mrs. Bevin this time. How would you have felt to find her at your door again? Vocabulary nesting box gallivanting sorghum tamped clutched yearling root cellar butcher outhouse striding Henry and the Pony Express Chapter 3 ‐ “The Yearling” Comprehension 1. What does Henry tell Mrs. Bevin? 2. What did Mrs. Bevin have to say about Charley? 3. Mrs. Bevin tried to tempt the girls to want to be with her. What did she tell them she had? 4. Why didn’t Henry defend Charley? 5. What made Henry wonder if Mrs. Bevin had threatened him? 6. Charley and Henry were planning to butcher the yearling and prepare the meat for winter. What happened to stop this plan? 7. What did Henry think the girls would do while he was looking for the yearling? 8. What happened to the yearling? 9. What words did Henry think about after he found the yearling? 10. What did the girls do when Henry returned? 11. What did Henry tell Charley caused the yearling to die? 12. What did Charley make for the girls? 13. Why did Henry’s laugh surprise the twins and himself? 14. What was Henry hoping for as they rode Star back to their house? Discussion/Activities 1. Make lists of words to describe Henry, Charley, the twins, and Mrs. Bevin. Compare and contrast the lists. 2. What do you think about Mr. Bevin? 3. What might have happened in Mrs. Bevin’s life to make her act the way she does? 4. Do you think she was threatening Henry? Do you think she had anything to do with the yearling disappearing? 5. How would you handle Mrs. Bevin? Vocabulary peering mishap rheumatism ill winds crocks carcass tallow leavings Henry and the Pony Express Chapter 4 ‐ “A Lullaby in the Night” Comprehension 1. What was Mrs. Bevin doing in Henry’s dream? 2. Now that the yearling was gone, how was Henry going to feed the girls during the winter? 3. What did Henry hear when he woke up? 4. Where were the girls and what were they doing? 5. Why did Henry's eyes fill with tears? 6. Why was the “Shhhhhhhhhhhh” so important to Henry? 7. Where did the girls place their cradles when they went to bed? 8. What did Charley think might have helped the twins get over their fear of leaving Henry? 9. What did Charley bring on Christmas Day? 10. What did Missy and Ellie do on Christmas night that surprised Charley? 11. How did Charley handle the surprise? Discussion/Activities 1. Draw of picture of the Christmas dinner table at Henry’s house. 2. Compare and contrast Christmas in the past with Christmas in the present. 3. Do you think time heals? What does that mean? Give an example when time made things easier for you. 4. Are you surprised that Charley sang to the girls? Do you think other men would make fun of him for doing that? Should they? Vocabulary supplemented image lullaby coals kindling eased forefingers substitute