And They Lived Happily Ever After

Six pages, three pencils, and thirteen erasers later, a child writes the final few lines of her story and what does she write? “They lived happily ever after,” or “the end”. Even the most creative, prolific writer in your class sometimes struggles to put a just-right ending on her story. One way teachers can help students write strong endings is to observe how published authors end their stories. Making an anchor chart (where kids actually name ending styles) could really help kids find clever ways to end their stories. I included some possible titles for ending styles, but think it would be much better if your students named them for the anchor chart.

Because Amelia Smiled

David Ezra

The story starts with Amelia skipping down the road smiling. Her smile inspires her neighbor, Mrs. Higgins to send cookies to her grandson in Mexico. The cookies inspire Lionel to teach his class a song about cookies. This begins a journey of goodwill and kindness around the world. The book begins and ends with Amelia smiling.

Ending: “It comes full circle” – the story starts and ends in the same place. Another good example of this kind of ending is If You Give a Mouse A Cookie.

Shh! We have a Plan.

Chris Haughton

Three hunters are chasing a bird with nets. But a kid gets the birds to come to him by giving them bread. When the hunters try to catch the birds going for the bread, the birds attack. Finally, the hunters give up and decide to try to catch a squirrel.

Ending: “If that didn’t work…try with something else.” This is an amusing ending because the reader knows that the same thing will happen over again. Another book with this style of ending is Mo Willem’s Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. After not being able to drive the bus, the pigeon decides to try to drive a truck.

Too Many Toys

David Shannon

Spencer had too many toys. His toys were stashed under the bed, spilled down the stairs and piled up in his closet. Spencer had so many toys that they became a household hazard. Finally, his mother has had it, and one by one, she and Spencer haggle over each and every toy and decide which ones Spencer is willing to put in a box to give away. After finishing, Spencer’s mom is exhausted and needs a short rest and a cup of tea. But when she comes back upstairs the toys are everywhere and Spencer is playing with the one toy he just could never give away. The “box” made a great rocket ship.

Ending: “Oh, the irony of it all.” Spencer has every toy a child could possibly want. He has so many toys that there isn’t room in the house for all of them. So he has to give some away. But the one toy he decides he needs to keep - is the box.

This type of ironical ending can also be found in Mo Willems’ book There's a Bird on Your Head . Piggie tries to help Gerald get a bird’s nest off of his head. The only problem is that the nest moves from Gerald’s head to Piggie’s.

The Monster at the End of this Book

Jon Stone

Lovable furry Grover enters a book that says on the very first page that there will be a monster at the end of the book. Grover tries everything to get the reader not to go to the end of the book. He begs, he ties the pages, he builds a brick wall, but still the reader gets to the end of the book. But guess what...the only monster there is – Grover (how embarrassing).

Ending: “You knew it all along.” It’s obvious that since Grover is a monster, albeit a loveable, furry monster, he is going to be the monster at the end of the book.

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Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Judith Viorst

This classic (which every child should hear at least 23 times during their childhood) is about a boy named Alexander who is having an awful day. When his brothers found surprises in their cereal boxes, he found just cereal. In the car pool ride, he got smushed in the middle. The teacher said he sang to loud in music and he missed the number 16 when he counted. And every time something worse would happen, Alexander said he was moving to Australia. At the end of the day, he tells his mom about his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. And she tells him some days are like that. Even in Australia.

Ending: “And the lesson is….” Judith Viorst cleverly states the book’s lesson at the end. She does it masterfully, by using repetitive phrases from the book such as “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day,” and “even in Australia.”