The Beatryce Prophecy

By Kate DiCamillo illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Informational Resources:

Author Information:

Author Website:                                                                    https://www.katedicamillo.com

Illustrator Information:

Illustrator Website:                                                            https://www.sophieblackall.com/

Activities & Resources:

ELAR/Writing/Social Studies

During the Middle Ages, and just like in The Beatryce Prophecy, monks were very important because they were among the few people who could read and served as keepers of knowledge. Have students write a short composition about how the Beatryce Prophecy scared the king and counselors.

The Beatryce Prophecy is broken up into numbered parts and chapters. As a class, in groups, or individually, have students create names for each part and chapter as well as an explanation for why they named it the way they did.

Characters can teach us something, Each character can teach the reader something about life. Have your students complete a graphic organizer analyzing Beatryce, Jack, Cannon, and Brother Edick and their character's traits in the book.

The novel suggests that the story took place in the middle ages in Europe. Have students research the middle ages and make a chart with specific examples from the book as to why this could be true. Britannica Kids is a great resource for learning about the Middle Ages: https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Middle-Ages/275833

MakerSpace Activities:

Draw a Medieval Castle ( 4:13):                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opXUQ7kOkWs

Research what it would be like to be a Medieval Monk like Brother Edick (4:13): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewbjWSAVDLI

Research medieval art and structures in the Middle Ages (2:32): https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=h9OTCFAmbmA

Make an origami goat (9:50):                    https://www.youtube.com/embed/hC-8TbD9_Eg

Play Doh Mermaid Squishy Circuits Project: https://www.steamsational.com/squishy-circuits-projects-mermaid/

Answelica the goat grows to be beloved by all of the major characters, and is an instrumental part of the team that helps to rescue Beatryce. Are goats really as smart as Answelica or is that DiCamillo’s invention? Create a graph with specific examples from the book.                                                                    https://www.farmsanctuary.org/goats/

Discussion Questions:

Based on the cover of the book, what do you predict the story will be about?

Who do you think is the most important character in the book? Why do you think this character has such an important role in the book?

In the beginning of the story, the counselor and the king are both afraid of Answelica. Why do you think they are so afraid?

Who is the character Beatryce? What major role does she play in the story?

A prophecy is the basis of Beatrice's journey. Do you think the prophecy is coming true? Use examples throughout the book.

Who is the character Jack in the story? How does he become such an important friend to Beatryce?

Jack Dory's family was killed by a bearded man during their travels. He ran away. Who did Jack find that took him in and took care of him?

Explain what the "Special book of sorrows" is and how it is significant to the story.

Two tutors were introduced in the story. How would you compare the two tutors? What makes them different?

Why are the counselor and the king so afraid of Beatryce?

Cannoc sings many songs to others. Why do you think his songs are so important?

Why did Cannoc decide to step down as the king?

Beatryce dreams many dreams over time. Why do you think her dreams change so much? How were they important to the story?

Beatryce begins to teach Jack Dory how to read. Why was she so kind to help Jack Dory?

Beatryce left in the middle of the night to go and find the king. She was kidnapped and taken to a dungeon. Who was the kidnapper?

While in the dungeon, she hears the voice of her tutor. What does she hear him say that makes her think she may be able to find her mother?

Beatryce is able to tell her mermaid dream/story to the king. Why is this story so real to Beatryce?

At the end of the book, Beatryce finds her mom and chooses to make her the queen. Why was this so meaningful to Beatryce?

What do you believe is the theme of the book? Did the theme change throughout different scenes of the book?

Book Talk Teasers:

Read the reader's theater for The Beatryce Prophecy.

Watch the book trailer for The Beatryce Prophecy. 

Watch the author's interview on the Texas Bluebonnet Award YouTube Channel.

Watch the illustrator's interview on the Texas Bluebonnet Award YouTube Channel.

Watch the book trailer for The Beatryce Prophecy (1:15): https://www.teachingbooks.net/booktrailer.cgi?id=8918

Download the sample chapters from Kate DiCamillo's website and display on a projector for all students to read-along together. https://www.candlewick.com/book_files/1536213616.chp.1.pdf

Audio excerpt read by Kate DiCamillo -First Chapter Friday (2:47): https://btb.titlewave.com/detail/videos/first-chapter-fridays/video/6252745953001/kate-dicamillo-first-chapter-friday?autoStart=true&page=1

Audio excerpt read by Finty Williams (4:20): https://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=25326

Read Alikes:

Middle Ages

Barnhill, Kelly Ragan.The ogress and the orphans. When a child goes missing from the Orphan House in the town of Stone-in-the-Glen, the mayor suggests the kindly Ogress is responsible, but the orphans do not believe that and try to make their deluded neighbors see the real villain among them. (NoveList Plus)

Meconis, Dylan.Queen of the sea. When her sister seizes the throne, Queen Eleanor of Albion is banished to a tiny island off the coast of her kingdom. The island is also home to Margaret, a mysterious young orphan girl. Dylan Meconis paints Margaret’s world in soft greens, grays, and reds, transporting readers to a quiet, windswept island at the heart of a treasonous royal plot. (NoveList Plus)

Murdock, Catherine.The book of Boy. In 1350, a boy with a large hump on his back becomes the servant of a shadowy pilgrim on his way to Rome, who pulls the boy into a dangerous expedition across Europe to gather the seven precious relics of Saint Peter. (NoveList Plus)

Pasternack, Sofiya. Black bird, blue road. To save her sick twin brother from the Angel of Death by taking him to find doctors who can cure him, Ziva accidentally frees a half-demon boy instead, who leads them to a fabled city where no one dies. (NoveList Plus)

Spunky female characters

Magras, Diane.The mad wolf's daughter. In 1210 Scotland, when invading knights capture 12-year-old Drest's father, the Mad Wolf of the North, and her beloved brothers who make up his fearsome war-band, she sets off to rescue them from the castle prison, taking along a wounded knight as her captive to trade for her family's freedom. (NoveList Plus)

Reviews:

DiCamillo, Kate. The Beatryce Prophecy. Candlewick, 2021.

Booklist Starred

The Beatryce Prophecy.

By Kate DiCamillo (author) Sophie Blackall (illustrator)

Sept. 2021. 256p. Candlewick, $19.99 (9781536213614). Grades 3-6.

REVIEW:  First published May 15, 2021 (Vol. 117, No. 18) (Booklist).

Father Edik’s usual trepidation over approaching Answelica the goat’s enclosure skyrockets upon seeing a sleeping girl there, clutching the foul-tempered creature’s ear. This turns out to be Beatryce, a girl with no memory aside from her name, a girl who can read and write despite laws prohibiting such a thing, a girl about whom Father Edik believes he may have written in his order’s prophetic Chronicles of Sorrowing: “There will one day come a girl child who will unseat a king and bring about a great change.” It isn’t long before word reaches the monastery that the king is also looking for Beatryce on account of the prophecy, so Father Edik disguises her as a monk and sends her off with Answelica, her fierce and loyal protector, and a bright boy from town named Jack Dory, who has an interesting story of his own. Somehow, DiCamillo manages to fit a medieval epic into just over 250 pages—and that includes many glorious black-and-white illustrations by Blackall that one can easily envision stitched upon a tapestry. DiCamillo fills her narrative with humor and love, never getting in the way of her characters (or Answelica’s boney head) as they work through difficult choices and display many forms of bravery. It’s a gently feminist tale where stories carry the same power as magic and are, perhaps, one and the same. —Julia Smith 

Used with the permission of Booklist  https://www.booklistonline.com/

School Library Journal starred (October 1, 2021) 

Gr 3-6-The prophecy speaks of a girl who will unseat a king and change the world. It doesn't exactly mention a goat, but true prophecy will find a way to be fulfilled...especially if the hard-headed, and hard-butting, Answelica has anything to do with it. Brother Edik, a monk who illuminates manuscripts and pronounces the occasional prophecy (including the one about Beatryce), is startled to find a very sick girl curled up in the straw next to the monastery's irascible goat. He doesn't realize that the king is looking to capture this very girl; he takes her in and nurses her back to health. The goat refuses to leave Beatryce's side as she is eventually forced to leave the monastery and earn her way by writing (in a world where girls are not allowed to read and write), and ultimately by befriending others who help demonstrate that Beatryce is, in fact, the girl foretold to change everything. Hand to fans of Adam Gidwitz's The Inquisitor's Tale (although there are no farting dragons here). VERDICT DiCamillo's fantasy has no magic, but is a gentle tale of the power of love and the determination to do the right thing, even when that thing comes at great personal cost. Recommended for tweens in all library settings, both independent and read-alouds.-Elizabeth Friend, Wester M.S., TX © Copyright 2021. 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

Horn Book Magazine starred, 09/01/21

Kirkus Reviews starred, 08/01/21

• New York Times, 09/19/21

• Publishers Weekly starred, 07/19/21

• School Library Connection, 08/01/21

• Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books starred, 09/01/21