Once Upon a Tim
by Stuart Gibbs
illustrated by Stacy Curtis
**Videos are linked from Google Drive and work best with Google Chrome. Some school districts may block outside Chrome access for student accounts. If unable to view, please see embedded videos at the end of this page or try the Texas Bluebonnet Award YouTube Channel. We regret that individual access will not be granted.
Once Upon a Tim
By Stuart Gibs; illustrated by Stacy Curtis
Informational Resources:
Author Information:
Author Website:
E Trains Talks Podcast with Stuart Gibbs (38.01):
https://www.youtube.com/embed/j8RTNVod4rc
Illustrator Information:
Illustrator Website:
https://www.shannonassociates.com/stacycurtis
Activities & Resources:
Activities:
Simon and Schuster Reading Group Guide: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Once-Upon-a-Tim/Stuart-Gibbs/Once-Upon-a-Tim/9781534499256
Vocabulary:
In Once Upon a Tim, Stuart Gibs has placed many “IQ booster” vocabulary words. Create opportunities for students to practice using these words so they can become geniuses as well.
Create a graffiti word wall. Using the words in the story allows students to add sticky notes around IQ boosters with words or illustrations.
https://www.senteacher.org/printables/Literacy/49/WordWall.html
Sketchnotes allow students to draw instead of writing a definition to words. The visual image allows students to easily remember the meaning of the words.
https://www.teachthought.com/literacy/sketch-notes/
Castles vs Huts:
Learn more about castles and when and why they were made (7:25):
https://www.youtube.com/embed/AesgRREuCQI
Medieval Times Peasant Houses (:37):
https://www.youtube.com/embed/qe8mFAhbs4M
Sphinx:
Create a venn diagram comparing a sphinx to the stinx in this story to show how they are alike and different.
MakerSpace Activities:
Mythical Creatures:
Stuart Gibbs often created interesting animal combinations, such as a fr-dog. Create a new animal creation. Create an original monster. Make sure it contains the characteristics of two different animals. Make a full color illustration.
Create an origami sphinx (3:41):
https://www.youtube.com/embed/uFGbA6E8k4c
How to draw a sphinx: https://www.littlepassports.com/blog/country/how-to-draw-a-sphinx/
Dwellings:
Using blocks, legos, keva planks or recycled items, use what you have learned about castles to build your own castle.
How to Draw a Castle (4:13):
https://www.youtube.com/embed/opXUQ7kOkWs
Bridges:
What makes a bridge so strong? (3:44):
https://www.youtube.com/embed/oVOnRPefcno
STEM Challenge Build a Bridge (5:58):
https://www.youtube.com/embed/g8mFuuyZC6A
Create a popsicle bridge:
https://teachbesideme.com/popsicle-stick-bridge/
Discussion Questions:
What is the prince known for throughout the land?
Whose story is this? Who is he?
What does Tim’s house not have?
Who kidnaps the princess? How is this creature described?
Why do the king and queen look at this like an opportunity?
What two problems appeared when Prince Ruprecht decided to rescue the princess?
Who was Tim’s best friend? What were her two career options?
What is the one way a peasant can change their fate?
How does Belinda think she can try out for knighthood?
What happens during the knight tryouts? With Prince Ruptecht? To Belinda? To Tim?
Why and how does the quest get off to a bad start?
What was the first monster they encountered? How did they survive?
How did they make it through the Forest of Doom?
What does “borborygmus” mean”?
What does the royal family not know about Nerlim?
What kind of bridge do they get trapped on?
What was the plan to get rid of the knights once the princess was saved?
What is the stinx? Describe it.
What job does the princess offer Belinda and TIm?
In the end, what job does Ferkle choose?
Book Talk Teasers:
Read the reader's theater for Once Upon a Tim.
Watch the book trailer for Once Upon a Tim.
Watch the author's interview on the Texas Bluebonnet Award YouTube Channel.
Watch the illustrator's interview on the Texas Bluebonnet Award YouTube Channel.
Once Upon a Tim Read-Aloud (first chapter) with Stuart Gibbs from Simon Kids (4:45):
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ri5Yr5b44Yc
Read Alikes:
Medieval Adventures
Barnett, Mac. Mac undercover. One day, Mac (smartest boy in his class in a small town in California) receives a telephone call from the Queen of England, recruiting him to find the crown jewels (well, actually just the Coronation Spoon) and so Mac embarks on his first adventure as a secret agent--with the assurance that the Queen will give him a note excusing him from school. (Novel List Plus)
Cowell, Cresiida. How to train your dragon. Chronicles the adventures and misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third as he tries to pass the important initiation test of his Viking clan, the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, by catching and training a dragon. (Novel List Plus)
Scieszka, Jon. Knights of the kitchen table. Three boys use a magical book to travel through time and have many adventures with King Arthur, the Knights of the Roundtable and Merlin, the Magician. (Novel List Plus)
Nix, Garth. Have sword, will travel. Odo is the seventh son of the village miller and he just wants to get away from work for awhile, Eleanor's mother was a soldier, and she yearns for adventure, but it is Odo who finds the magic talking sword named Biter, and thereby instantly becomes a knight--and together they set out on a quest (somewhat reluctantly on Odo's part) to save their kingdom from threats both human and dragon. (Novel List Plus)
Peirce, Lincoln. Max & the midknights. Aspiring knight Max teams up with a band of brave adventurers, the Midknights, on a madcap quest to save a kidnapped relative from a cruel king who is driving all the happiness out of the realm of Byjovia. (Novel List Plus)
Reviews:
Gibbs, Stuart. Once Upon a Tim. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2022.
Booklist
Once Upon a Tim.
By Stuart Gibbs (author) Illustrated by Stacy Curtis
Mar. 2022. 155p. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $11.99 (9781534499256) Grades 2-5.
REVIEW: First Published March 1, 2022 (Vol. 118, No. 13) (Booklist).
Tim and his friend Belinda (disguised as a boy), two peasants during the Middle Ages, seize an opportunity to become knights by accompanying a cowardly prince and his ineffectual wizard on an expedition to save a princess from the dreaded Stinx that has captured her. After an action-packed journey through the Forest of Doom, down The River of Doom, and across the Chasm of Doom, they reach the Stinx’s lair. Gibbs peppers his prose with entertaining side comments as well as “IQ boosters,” explaining terms such as malodorous, iconoclast, and infinitesimal, while maintaining the pace of the narrative. This giddy romp through a medieval setting, complete with menacing trolls and gigantic, bloodthirsty butterflies, is the start of a promising series from the author of Spy School (2012) and its sequels. —Carolyn Phelan
Used with the permission of Booklist https://www.booklistonline.com/
School Library Journal (March 1, 2022)
Gr 3-5-A quest to save a princess turns out to be nothing like the fairy tales suggest. Narrated by Tim, a peasant boy with a surprisingly rich vocabulary and complete knowledge of all the things that don't exist in his world, this romp follows Tim and his best friend Belinda, who seize the opportunity to join Prince Ruprecht and Court Magician Nerlim as they head off to rescue Princess Grace (who, it turns out, doesn't actually need to be rescued). Along for the adventure are Ferkle the Village Idiot (only pretending because it's the family business) and Rover, Tim's Fr-dog (an enormous frog who was once a dog... oh, it's a long story). The prince isn't brave, the magician can only do card tricks, and the monster isn't so very monstrous. Along with the enhanced vocabulary and extreme silliness, there is discussion of societal expectations. All characters are cued as white. VERDICT Will kids understand all of the references? Possibly not, but the humor, enhanced by Quentin Blake-esque illustrations, will definitely find an audience with kids looking for a quick, funny read.-Mara Alpert © Copyright 2022. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Reprinted with permission from School Library Journal ©2022
Additional Reviews Available
Kirkus Reviews, 05/01/22
New York Times, 02/27/22
Publishers Weekly, 01/31/22