The Story of Diva and the Flea by Mo Willems & Tony DiTerlizzi

Willems, M., & DiTerlizzi, T. (2015). The story of Diva and Flea. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

The Story of Diva and the Flea is a early childhood chapter book about an unlikely friendship about a well-kept small lap dog named Diva and a street cat named Flea.   These two meet in the courtyard of Diva’s apartment building in Paris.  Flea is an adventurer, while Diva has never left her courtyard.  Flea teaches that anything is possible if she just takes baby steps, where she can finally see the Eiffel Tower.   The two characters continue to learn from each other while understanding and appreciating each other’s differences.

This book would most likely be enjoyed by a classroom between 2^nd and 5^th grade.  The writing is rather simple, but still has a cute message to pass along.

The biggest discoveries start with the smallest steps.

            This book would be a great read to add to a classroom due to the underlying themes that are portrayed throughout.  Diva and Flea are very different, and this book teaches the reader that is okay to be different and there are many things to learn from each other.  There are no humans being portrayed in the book, but the two characters can represent individuals who are different in just about every way.

What’s inside?

Dialogue:  Willems uses dialogue to have the two main characters interact throughout the story.

“You brought me a mouse?” asked Diva.

There are also French words used throughout the book to introduce a bit of foreign language.

Simile:  She especially liked the one about the tower so tall and pointy that it could cut a cloud in half, like a knife slicing through a soft piece of cheese.

Onomatopoeia:  It sounded like Krrrr-WHOOSH-krrrrr-FOOF!

This was the noise describing how a broom sounded while sweeping in that chapter.

There are pictures throughout the book, mostly of Flea and Diva.  There are even some parts where the entire two-page spread is an illustration which is a nice break from the text.

How can we teach this?

The theme of accepting each other for our differences is a great message to instill in your students and this book is a perfect example of why that is important.  Ask you students to free write either a poem or a story about them and their best friend.  It could be a person, pet, parent, etc. and have them point out where they are different from their person.  Then challenge them to think about something they’ve learned from this person.