This story was written for a friend Michelle Titian and her son Luka (who I taught for a year and a half). Michelle established The Drive Foundation https://drivefoundation.org/  to support the care of mental health and prevention of addiction. I wanted to write a story that would approach the topic of addiction with children. I started to think what do all children know that they consume that has potential to be addictive?

A fractured fairy tale of the classic, Jack and the Beanstalk, Luka and the Sitka Spruce (instead of  the beanstalk) was written to address a highly addictive substance that children are freely given and lured to, SUGAR. I wrote this story to stimulate dialogue with children on sugar and peer pressure. Furthermore my hopes are that this story arouses discussions regarding effective choices.

Questions to Consider:

Sugar
Does sugar affect your body?
How does your body feel after eating it?
What are the consequences of eating too much sugar?
Can you stop eating sweet things easily?
What can you eat instead of candy or sugary things?

Peer Pressure
Is it easy to say no to a friend when you are having a good time?
How do you or your friends try to convince people to stay?
Do you think it was easy for Luka to leave the giant’s candy castle, why or why not?
What if the friend calls you names or threatens you? What should you do?

Effective Choices
What were the effective choices Luka made in this story?
Did Luka make an effective choice giving the musician his money?
What is an effective choice of daily nutrition?

Quick Take Away Links