Word Wizard

1. valley, page 1, paragraph 4

2.  The farmhouse and its buildings were tucked into the side of a gentle hill, and in the flat little valley below were two large fields, the nearer green, the farther gold.

3.  noun, land surrounded by hills or mountains, low land

4.  low land surrounded by mountains or hills;  land carved out by a river.

5.  The story is set on a farm.  The description of where the farmhouse is located helps the reader create a mental picture.  The valley is the land below the house where the field are located.

1.  tawny, page 3, paragraph 5

2.  Aren't you handsome, she thought, with your tawny coat and your black tipped ears and your hind legs.

3.  adjective, brown, tan in color

4.  tanish, brown, yellow in color

5.  The description of the rabbit gives the reader a mental picture of what he looks like.  Describing the color of his coat adds to the picture the reader creates in their mind.

1.  combine, page 16, paragraph 4

2.  But Wiz, you must be careful, because soon he'll be harvesting the wheat, and that means he goes around and around the field on a big machine called a combine, and shoots any rabbit that runs out, especially at the end when there's only a little square of what left in the middle.

3.  noun, a big machine used to harvest fields

4.  a farm machine used in heading, threshing, and cleaning of grain/wheat when harvesting.

5.  The word is used so the reader will know what is being used when Harriet's dad harvests the fields.  It helps to have an idea of how the fields are harvested and not just know that they are harvested.

1.  idly, page 22, paragraph 4

2.  Harriet's father took hold of her hand and idly tickled the palm with one finger just as he used to when she was little.

3.  adverb, slow, smooth motion

4.  useless, slothful, slow, laggard

5.  The motion described by the word idly is one of slow, almost stillness.  Harriet's dad wanted to comfort and condole her so he used an idle motion to tickle her hand, like he did when she was little and her mom was around.