Part 5
An old woman finds the rabbit lying by the tracks and puts him to the only use she can see: nailed up a pole in her garden, arms out, a china scarecrow over the crops. She calls him Clyde. Edward dangles there, day and night, ears fluttering, and something in him goes darker than the dump: after so many losses, he decides he is done with caring. But even a scarecrow has a watcher. Bryce, a thin, watchful boy who works the old woman’s garden, talks to the rabbit on the pole — and one moonlit night he climbs up, takes Edward down, and runs. He carries him home to a bare cabin where his little sister Sarah Ruth lies sick — a girl so fragile she seems made of the same stuff as Edward. Bryce puts the rabbit in her arms. She cradles him, beams — and the rabbit who swore he was done with caring feels his china heart, traitorously, begin again.
| Section | What you will practice |
|---|---|
| Vocabulary | Words of the garden and the cabin: scarecrow, dangle, crops, cabin, fragile, cradle… |
| Literary Elements | The dark moment, reversal, and the kindness of the poor |
| Cross-Curricular | Why farmers raise scarecrows, and how crows keep outsmarting them |
| Ch. | What happens |
|---|---|
| 17 | Clyde — an old woman nails the rabbit up a garden pole as a scarecrow; Edward decides he is done with caring. |
| 18 | The Watcher — Bryce, the hired boy, talks to the rabbit on the pole — and takes him down by moonlight. |
| 19 | Sarah Ruth — in a bare cabin, Bryce lays Edward in his sick little sister’s arms — and a closed heart re-opens. |
ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear verbatim in the original novel.
- Sarah Ruth cradles the rabbit in her arms.
- Edward vows that he is done with caring.
- The old woman nails the rabbit up as a scarecrow.
- Bryce carries Edward home to the bare cabin.
- By moonlight, Bryce climbs the pole and takes him down.
Think back over the garden days. A rabbit nailed against the sky, ears snapping in the wind, makes the coldest promise of his life: never again. Below him a hired boy hoes rows and talks upward, softly, the way the lonely do. Then a moonlit climb, a run through the dark, a bare cabin — and thin arms closing around him like an answer. The heart he canceled comes back without asking permission.
For as long as people have farmed, birds have arrived at harvest time — and farmers have posted guards that never sleep. The scarecrow is an ancient answer to an ancient pest: a person-shaped figure of poles, straw, and cast-off clothes, raised above the ripening crops. Egyptian farmers guarded grain beside the Nile; Japanese farmers still raise straw kakashi over rice paddies. The design is a bluff — from a bird's-eye view, anything person-shaped that stirs in the wind might be a farmer, and might mean danger. The bluff's weakness is its audience. Crows, the scarecrow's oldest opponents, are among the cleverest birds alive: they study what never moves, test it from a safe branch, and within days may perch on the guard itself. So farmers learned that an effective scarecrow must change — new rags, a new post, a head that swings — staying one surprise ahead of its audience. A guardian of cloth and straw, it turns out, keeps its job exactly as long as it keeps its mystery.
This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!
Writing Task — Part 5 “Night Watch”
Imagine one night as the guard in the garden — scarecrow, garden gnome, or china rabbit on a pole. Describe your watch: what moves in the dark, what tests you, and what you think about while the house sleeps. Write at least 40 words.
No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby what happened in this part. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.
Part 5 Complete!
You finished Chapters 17–19 of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.
Here are your auto-graded results:
The best last step is to teach it. In your own words, explain what happened — retell a favorite scene, teach a character’s big choice, or sum up the main idea for a parent, friend, or classmate. When you can teach it clearly, you truly own it.
Independent study guide by Garden Heights. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Kate DiCamillo. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced. Reference text: This workbook follows Kate DiCamillo’s classic text (the standard Puffin edition sold worldwide). Revised 2023 UK editions change some wording and may not match the vocabulary studied here.