Meaghan,
Well, I must say the first thing I noticed about this book was the wonderful illustrations. They just stand out I forced myself to do a picture walk of the illustrations before I read the story. I love how the images really depict how a young child would draw the objects and places shown. Without the text, the pictures show a happy family going about their daily routines. I also love the detail of each picture. The mixture of curvy and straight lines along with the bright colors suggests that this is a fun happy story!
After reading the story, it turns out my predictions were correct! This is a story about a granddaughter spending some time at her grandparents. I love how the author made the little girl the narrator and the way she described the things they did together. For example: when the little girl is describing the kitchen at the beginning of the story, I love how she included; “but you can’t touch anything under the sink. You could get very sick.” While this is a simple statement, I feel that kids would be able to connect to the reality of it. It is a very believable story.
Finally, I loved how this was a multicultural book without it being stated in the text. I think the illustrations do a beautiful job of showing that this is a mixed-race family. I truly feel that showing something without talking about it or addressing it completely sends out the message that it isn’t out of the ordinary. For example, I have some kids in my classroom who are shocked when they discover another student has parents from different races. I think reading a book like this to a diverse class will simply reinforce the point that there are many different kids of families out there; not all families are like yours. I think I am going to do some further research on this books Caldecott Medal Award!
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3 comments:
Hi Amy,
I also took a picture walk through the book before reading. The illustrations are so bright and colorful. I love the way the pictures fill up the entire page right up to the text. I think it really helps the reader become involved in the experience of this child. Chris Raschka, the illustrator, did an amazing job creating pictures that were a mesh of color and texture, while still paying attention to smaller details like the outlets in the wall and the shovels laying against the house. You know that this will be a happy, warm, family story even before reading the words.
It's so funny that you pointed out the line, "don't touch anything under the sink. You could get very sick." It was one of the lines that stood out to me as well because it sounds like it came straight from the mouth of a child. I found the line, "When I get tired I come in and take my nap and nothing happens until I get up," hilarious and heartwarming. In the mind of a child, if they stop, the world stops! I also loved the lines about the stars, when the child says, "Do you know how many stars there are? Neither do I, but she (Grandma)knows them all." I think this is one of the many lines that show how this child views her grandparents. I remember myself at that age, thinking that they were all-knowing, all-seeing amazing people. I'm sure (I hope)that every young child can connect to the feelings this child has towards her grandparents.
This book also reminds me of my own trips to my grandparents as a child. My grandmother would serve us tea in her mini teapot set. We would play Concentration and eat cookies and never have to worry about cleaning up after ourselves or starting our homework. It was these little things that made those visits so special.
I also loved the way in which this book was multicultural. This was a story about a biracial family, but the story wasn't about being a biracial family. The author helps children become aware of these different types of families, without making it an issue. Students of all races and cultures can connect with the experiences of this child and her love for her grandparents. I took a look at amazon.com and saw that others also were happy to see how Juster and Raschka portrayed this happy multicultural family (see the 1st review if you're interested).
Hey Meaghan,
I loved the first book review on Amazon! The author of the review, E.R.Bird states: “Raschka always has his own way of doing things. When he illustrates a picture book, he doesn't read it through and find the easiest dullest way of bringing those same words to life. No sir! Not he. In this particular case Raschka's gone wild with his palette. Colors burst forth from this page in a flurry of colors, textures, and wild emotional flicks of the pen. The scantiest of penciled lines can indicate a facial feature or a curl of hair. The book is an odd balance between impressionism and out n' out anarchy at times.”
I find it interesting how she described the illustrators way of creating his paintings. I wonder how she knows this. I am under the assumption based on her opening like comparing the Caldecott Awards to the Oscars; she has experience in this field! I agree with her description of the illustrations and the wild emotional flicks of the pen. I feel that although the paintings are wild, bright and a burst of color, there is still a sense or order to each picture. You touched upon this in your last response as you described the detail that is displayed on each page. Towards the end of the review, E.R.Bird goes on to describe the father in the story and how he resembles a character from the 1950’s. I wasn’t too sure where she was going with this or how it impacted the true feeling of the whole book. I feel that each character had an identity of their own and added to the magic of the book!
Hi Amy,
I'm sure that the author of that amazon comment does have some art background. It was shown through her appreciation of the illustrations and her knowledge of what type of media the illustrator used. I've started painting over the past year (not very good, but it's relaxing) and I was also impressed that Raschka was able to use different types of paints -watercolor, oil, maybe even pastels, to create these beautiful pictures. It has given me some great ideas of new techniques to play around with!
As far as how the grandfather is dressed, that is not something that I even noticed before reading E.R. Bird's review. This person definitely took his/her time with their picture walk! I'm thinking that Raschka depicted the grandfather in this way to perhaps show the differences in generation. Many kids who are at the age of the child in the book could have grandparents that grew up in the 50's, and this may be the way in which their grandparents dress as well. It could serve as another way for children to connect to the story.
Although I no longer teach first grade, I immediately thought about the ways in which I could use this story with 1st graders. Besides the fact that they can relate to the main character, who seems to be about 5 years old, they would also be able to see how the author stretched out a small moment. In first grade they write about small moments in their life, and we work on using detail and description to stretch that moment. The author, Norton Juster, was able to take something simple, the window, and turn that simple feature of a house into a beautiful story. I also liked how the language in the story reflected the thinking and words used by a child. This is something a first grader could listen to or read on their own and think, "I could write that!" This book would spark great discussion and writing for the younger grades!
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