Holy Coyote!

I had a box waiting for me when I returned home last night. Mail! As-sah! It was from Mom and Dad. They had told me that something was on its way to me, but they had said that it was just a few letters, so I was really surprised to have a whole box. The customs label said it contained a stuffed animal, so I was a little confused. I took my box upstairs and opened it to find not just any stuffed animal but a coyote puppet. It's made by the Folkmanis Puppet company, the same company that made the groundhog puppet Dad gave me two Christmases ago. Mr. Coyote was definitely a hit with my kindergartners.Puppets are great teaching tools because the kids are drawn to them. They want to communicate, so when they animals speak in English to them, they answer naturally. It's especially fun to have puppets of North American wildlife because the kids (and parents) aren't quite sure what they are. I must have had the following conversation 15 times today.

What is it?
EMH: It's a coyote.
A dog?
EMH: No, a coyote.
A wolf?
EMH: No, a coyote.
A fox?
EMH: No, a coyote.

When Mr. Groundhog comes to school, we go through the same conversation with kids and parents guessing it's a beaver, squirrel, and bear. Some days I think grammar isn't so important if we can correctly identify our North American mammals.