Hush

Melanie Orr

Poetry

Hush a Thai Lullaby

By Minfong Ho

Illustrations by Holly Meade

Medium:  The Illustrations are cut-paper collage with ink.  The colors are warm and match the setting of the story.

Summary:  This book is a poetry book that uses onomatopoeia and uses verse to convey its meaning.  This book really talked about how a mother tried to quiet the animals so that her baby could sleep.  In the end the mother fell asleep and the baby ended up waking up.

Literary Elements:

Setting:  The story takes place in Thailand.  The setting of this book is integral to this story because it pictures match the poem.  The setting which is in Thailand, has animals and to display this part of the culture is important therefore integral to the story.  Students can read and look at the pictures to really get the just of the story.  To actually portray what is happing in the story the animals in the pictures and the sounds that they make, give a really good picture of what the story is about.

Characterization:  The characterization of the story is that the animals are the distraction and the man character; the mother is an active character and is not very happy because the animals are disturbing her sleeping baby.  The mother’s facial expressions and hand gestures foretell her mood.

Plot:  The conflict of this story is self against nature.  The mother of the story is contending with animals to keep quiet so that her baby can sleep.  I believe that this book has an episodic plot because each event is related to sound and the sound is connected to an animal.  Each episode in the book gets closer to the expected end of the mother falling asleep and the baby awaking.

Theme: The main idea of the story is, shhhh don’t wake the baby. 

Style: Illustrations in the book are very descriptive of the story.  Each animal matches its habitat.  The colors are warm and match what may be real in Thailand.  The texture of some of the illustrations are as if you could pick them up, Ex. The rice barn.  The illustrations in the book are collogues so there is an overlapping of items on the pages.  The most of the language is English in the story with a few sounds from the animals that are in the language from Thailand.  The story was created in poetry verse with rhyme and repetition.  I am not sure if this book portrays life in Thailand accurately, but I do believe it shows it in a positive light.  The pictures displayed a neat orderly atmosphere even though it is in the woods.  The pictures were warm and cozy.  The energy of the book was one of frustration coming from the mother.  So the overall energy of the book was fun and enjoyable.  The language-sound of the animals in the book may be confusing for some children as they may be use to a duck saying, “Quack” and not “Ghap”.  I liked the book because it can give children exposure to a different cultural view.  The pictures are great and this book can easily be engaging for young readers.  Once a child has heard maybe the first two or three verses they may want to join along with reading the story.  The illustrations are of good quality color, texture, and depth.  The plot is predictable, but cute and traditional.