The mitten

Title: The Mitten
Author: Jim Aylesworth
Illustrator: Barbara McClintock
Medium: Color pencils
Genre: Modern Fantasy/ folktale
Theme: Don’t forget your mittens!
Summary: A little boy loses his mitten in the woods when a squirrel comes by and decided to go in to keep itself warm, but then many different animals comes in the mitten too and it keeps on stretching.
Literary Elements:
Setting: I do believe that the setting is critical to this story as it builds suspense around the setting. The animals would n not enter the mitten if it was not cold as it was outside in the snow. It remained in the same setting for the most of the story so that setting is not backdrop to the story because it has a lot of meaning along with the mitten itself. The setting is integral background to the story as it would guide students throughout the story thinking what will happen next.
Style: I loved the style of the author’s writing because it kept me entertained throughout the book awaiting what would happen next. As other animal comes in, the author seems to shift its tone to fit the animal’s “tone” such as "'Br-r-r-r-r-rrrr!' said the squirrel. 'My toes are cold as ice! This mitten looks so cozy, and warm toes would feel so nice!'" This story is based on a folktale but it can consider a modern fantasy to me also because it involves animals talking and things that you know that will never happen in real life. The author was really creative with how he put words in the book throughout, making it more interesting.
Plot- The text and illustration is obviously progressive as you see things evolve as time goes by. Children would be able to see the mitten grow and then they will start to question what would happen next and then they will find out that it explodes at the end. I don’t know if the author (retold) expected to have an theme in the story but I guess the author wanted to “warn” children not to lose anything because animals could come and stretch your things!
Characterization- There are not any main characters in this book but you could tell that the main character is the boy losing his mitten because throughout the story it is about his mitten. I believe the character is round because in the end he realized that he has to be careful and check where his things are at all times.
Evaluation: I have read this book as a child myself and I remember loving this book because it is out of this world, it is obvious that it cannot ever happen but it is fascinating. Children would love this book because it gives them suspense throughout the book and they would be so eager to know what will happen at the end of the book. I think a lot of kids can relate to this story as they do lose a lot of things so maybe this book can help them to be careful with their things. ☺

If you give a mouse a cookie

Melanie Orr

Children’s Literacy

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

Illustration By Felicia Bond

Summary:  A little boy gives a mouse a cookie and after that the mouse asks for more and more.  In the end the mouse starts all over again asking for a cookie.

Genre: Fantasy

Illustrations:  The pictures in the book are very descriptive of what is happening in the story.  The book explains with illustration on each step the mouse takes, from asking for milk to asking for a crayon to draw. The colors are playful, bright, and young.  The pictures are drawn and do not look painted.  The book doesn’t tell exactly what the illustrator used to make the pictures.  Some of the pictures have great detail, example is when the young boy is in the kitchen trying to find the mouse a straw.  In other illustrations the drawings are big and vivid of the mouse and whatever action he is taking in the book.

Literary Elements:  Setting, The setting of the story takes place in a house in what seems to be a pretty nice neighborhood.  The setting of this story is a backdrop of what the story is about.  When the boy goes into a cabinet then the setting is in a kitchen area.  If the mouse wants to look into the mirror the two of them-mouse and boy are in the bathroom looking into a mirror.  The moue is given a glass of milk with a straw and the picture and setting visually explain this.

Characterization:  The characters in this story are flat.  The main characters in this story are the young boy and the mouse.  In the story its like the mouse is the child and the young boy is a parent.  He is constantly catering to and cleaning after the mouse.  With this in mind the pictures display the annoyance the little boy has sometimes with chasing after the mouse getting him what he wants.  At one point in the book, right before the end, the boy takes a seat in exhaustion.  The pictures accurately display the mood of the boy as well as the mouse.  The mouse excitement is conveyed through his happiness, hand gestures, and jumping up in down in the book. 

Plot:  Plot of the story is episodic and self against nature.  The nature in this book is the mouse.  The beginning is about giving the mouse what he wants, a cookie.  Then throughout the book the mouse request more and the mood of the story changes.  So the plot starts off pretty steady until the mouse ask for different things and it increases and then goes back down to the original request, a cookie.    

Theme:  If you give a mouse a cookie he is going to want much more than just a cookie.

Style:  As before, the illustrations in the book are an accurate description of what the story is about.  The story is not told in first person, but refers to the mouse as “He” so I think the story is told in 3^rd person.  The mouse has human like characteristics and is treated like he is human.  Example, “He’ll star sweeping, He might get carried away and sweep every room in the house.”  The language in the book is English.  The mouse really never talks but the language is told from the point of view of the author.  I think that the book has elements of what a mouse really does, besides sweeping, drawing, and a few other things.  A mouse typically gets into everything when they raid your house and the underlying idea is that this mouse is all over the place.

Reflection:  This is a great book for children.  I could see myself reading this book to a class and bringing in cookies for everyone to share.  Reading this book and showing children can be very engaging for children.  They would be excited and maybe even predict what will happen next in the story.  When a child wants a cookie the next thing they may want is milk and this story is great at predicting what will happen next.  I would recommend this book because it is an easy read and fun.  The language is easy to understand.  Children will enjoy the illustrations as well.  I think its just the cutest book, I enjoyed reading it. 

The Ugly Duckling

Title: The Ugly Duckling

Author/ Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney

Medium: Watercolors

Genre: Modern Fantasy (lighthearted, animal fantasy)

Theme: Growth, Survival, Strength/Courage, Good vs Evil (environment dangers).

Other Relevant Information: Chosen as a Caldecott Honor Book 1999

Summary: A childhood favorite for over one hundred years. Jerry Pinkney’s adaption captures the tale’s purpose of presenting a journey of a little bird that grows to become a beautiful swan regardless of all the obstacles.

Literary Elements:

The author manages to encourage the reader to think about life and how to overcome obstacles through his images and words especially since the animal characters act and talk like humans.

The reader is drawn into the world of a duck that takes a journey filled with obstacles. It all began with an odd looking egg different from the other eggs. As soon as the odd egg hatched, it was quite obvious that it was not your ordinary little duckling. Due to his different appearance, the odd duck was made fun of and made an outcast. The duckling couldn’t bear it any longer and runs away. He faces loneliness and cold during the winter until he noticed a beautiful group of swans. As he wished for their beauty, he dealt with the cold and hunger until he saw the same beautiful group of swans again and attempted to join them. Once he joined them, he then realized he grew into a beautiful swan.

The author provides the background of the story within the beautiful countryside visible through his paintings. The mood is evident through the colors of the photographs, once the duck became a swan, the colors became bright and natural.

The character of the duck showed fear and confusion about his identity but once he became a swan, he realized it would have never been understood unless he went through a hard journey. Because of his journey, he could now appreciate his happiness. “I never dreamed of such peace” said the duck. (Last line in the book)

Style:

“Now the autumn came. The leaves in the woods turned yellow and brown, and the wind took hold of them and they danced about. The clouds hung heavy with snow and hail.” With the painting that follows the author’s lines, it clearly resembles his description. The mellow and ultimately visible writing carries the reader from page to page with ease. This allows the reader to actually believe that an animal that talks is real and the character itself is multidimensional.

Evaluation:

Jerry Pinckney reintroduces a classic that wins him a Caldecott Honor Medal by providing the readers of a new adaptation of a timeless story.

The illustrations in the book capture the setting within the countryside with colorful watercolors. The paintings and words that captures each emotion portrayed allows the reader to fully remain engaged within the story. With the colorful paintings, it embraces the setting and how the duck realizes his true beauty at the end with bright colors to show the importance of his discovery of true happiness.

Tooth Fairies

Title: The Dragon Machine

Author: Helen Ward

Illustrator: Wayne Anderson

Medium: Color pencils and pens.

Genre: Modern Fantasy

Theme: Frustration, being overlooked and neglect.

Summary: A boy named George started spotting dragons that were overlooked by others just like him. George decided to build a dragon machine and lead the dragons to their home.

Literary Elements: The genre was modern fantasy because there was suspended belief (the dragons and building a dragon machine), the universal theme of frustration, and draws on a common characterization from traditional literature – dragons. The story was a high fantasy because the story was not lighthearted and there was a dark theme behind the plot and illustrations and it was a quest tale because George had to lead the dragons home in order not to be overlooked. The setting was in present time and shifted from a town to a forest and back. The settings were real places since it was a town and a forest but the plot was make-believe. The settings were a backdrop because it could happen in any town and any forest. The character of George draws on another element of traditional literature - flat and stereotypical and did not display any growth and change or weaknesses and strengths. His character may be flat and stereotypical but he would be easy for children to identify with and interacted with the plot to solve the problem (getting rid of the dragons and feeling of being overlooked). The plot was progressive with self vs. self and self vs. others. The unifying theme of this book is the frustration of being neglected and overlooked by others around George. The story was told from a third point of view and the illustrator’s style of illustration in the making and using of dragon machine made me think of the steampunk style.

Evaluation: Children of all age will enjoy this simple yet high fantasy book and will be able to connect with George and his feeling of frustration. Myself as an adult reader, the story evoked a subtle sinister feeling in me for some reason. Adults would notice how George’s dragons were really the manifestation of his anger and frustration. The mood of the book was really dark and I am not sure if I like it. I love the illustration of the making of the dragon machine because I thought it would be a good start to introduce the students to a new genre, steampunk which are stories styled in a world like the dragon machine’s design.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Traction Man is herreee!

Title: Traction Man is Here
Author/Illustrator: Mini Grey
Medium: watercolor
Genre: Fantasy
Summary: It is about a boy who wanted a traction man for Christmas. He got what he wants! The traction man is here! The traction man is an action figure who has a different kind of adventures with scrubbing brush.
Theme: An action figure, the traction man who is ready to take bad people down with his sidekick, scrubbing brush!
Literary Elements:
Setting: in the first page of the book shows the boy sleeping in his bedroom. In the dining room/ kitchen, in the sink, outside, in the bath tub, in the car, and at the granny’s house. In the book indicates that the traction has an adventure in every setting.
Style: The author of this story has a kid at heart feeling. The point of view of the story is told in third person until the second last page, “well, I never.” The illustration was done in an excellent of drawing. The text is very easy to read. The fonts are pretty much the same from the first page to the last page.
Characterization: the book does not show any characterization of a young boy but shows a lot of the traction man. He aims to fight, protect, and have fun. He went in the sink to wash the dishes and meet his scrubbing brush; it is a “dog.” He fought the pillows, the washcloth, the shovel, a foot, and the broom. He is very humble. He is very helpful. For scrubbing brush , a “dog” because it shows its tail in the book. A great sidekick who saved the traction man’s life when he fought the washcloth in the sink. He is very loyal to the traction man because when he wears an ugly outfit that the granny made for him, the cupcake and the sock were laughing at him but the scrubbing brush didn’t.
Plot: the plot was great because it shows so much of adventure. The traction man and his sidekick, scrubbing brush fought all the way until at the end, they both relax but they are ready to fight evil household things.
Evaluation: I think this book is a wonderful book for young kids. Young children tend to have dolls and G.I. Joes. I, myself, had both of them. I visualized my G.I. Joe to be a real person. I would take it to everywhere I go to. I even purchased an action figure radio control car: it was a Volkswagen beetle. Good time I had back then. The book can develop the children’s creativity of what they want to do in the future. I remember my friends have G.I. Joes. My G.I. Joe was a cop. I wanted to be a policeman. My family told me that I could not be a cop because we are deaf. This book shows a great imagination of what we wanted to do with our figure action and toys.

The book has won a several of awards such as a new york time best illustrated children’s book of the year; an ALA notable children’s book; a kirkus reviews best book of the year and etc.