How does knowing about literary elements impact understanding a story?

“[A} gradual increase in awareness of how various authors use these elements in particular stories enables us to enter ever further into story worlds and see and understand them much better.  It is the interaction of the elements of literature that brings story into existence.  We believe that awareness of literacy elements and of their function in a story nurtures the development of children’s ability to respond imaginatively to a text.”

Grand Conversations by Peterson and Eeds

Without considering literary elements, discussion and thinking about a story would remain at a surface level.  What would we talk or think about if we didn’t talk about characters, symbols, different levels of meaning, place, time, and mood?  Probably just the most basic description of the plot.  For instance, talking about the Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron would probably sound like this:  “This girl’s mother died and she was worried that her guardian would leave her to go back to France.”  This quick summary mentions three characters, gives us a basic idea of the plot, and even mentions one of the main themes, but doesn’t touch on the things that make this such an engaging and touching story.  It’s the details of the story that speak to us, that draw us in, and that make us relate to it.  The details that we learn about Lucky make us fall in love with her.  The fact that she sits around listening to different groups of addicts tell about “hitting rock bottom” and finding their higher power, the mental image of a little girl in a too big, fancy red dress, carrying a survival backpack out into a sandstorm, the way she both nurtures and grows tired of nurturing Miles… these details make her real, and thinking and discussing them add everything to our understanding of Lucky and her story. 

Awareness of and discussion about each literary element adds to our understanding of a story.  The desert setting, the theme of searching for a higher power, the theme of family, the supporting characters Miles, Sammy, Lucky’s father, and Brigette… consideration of each of these aspects makes the story richer and our understanding deeper.

So What? OR... A Book That Shifts the Furniture in Your Head?

4 Stars

“A “so what” book is not a terrific book for kids.  It will put them off books and reading altogether, which is the last thing we want to do.  A terrific book matters to us as human beings.  It’s not terrific for adults or children if it leaves readers unmoved.  It is terrific if we’ve had to shift around the furniture in our heads as we’ve listened, if it has affected us profoundly, one way or another- to laughter or tears, horror or delight, disgust or dismay, fascination or fright.  If a book makes children laugh, cry, squeal, shiver, or wriggle and jiggle in some way, it takes up residence in their hearts and stays there.”    -page 134 of Reading Magic by Mem Fox  

An Alphabet for Lonely Children

By Amanda Church

Grades 3-6

4 stars

This alphabet book features charcoal illustrations of children dressed in a costume of an animal with the same first letter as their name.  Each child is described in a single sentence that tells of their odd hobbies, habits, or insights.   

What a strange book!  This book certainly shifted the furniture in my head (see quote at the top of this page), at least a little.  The children in this book are strange, but in a way that reminded me of the strange aspects of any normal childhood.  For instance, the “C” page reads, “When Colin was feeling antisocial, into the coat closet he went to stalk his prey through venetian blinds.”  I certainly remember hiding in a closet or under my bed as a child, and I imagine that peeking out of a hiding spot is an experience most kids and adults can relate to and remember. 

In their book, Grand Conversations, Peterson and Eeds tell us, “Mood concerns our feelings as well as those of the author.  We are excited, or terrified, or wondering at particular moments of the book,” (56).  The mood of this book is definitely dreamlike and a little eerie.  The black and white, muted illustrations of expressionless, slightly out of proportion children who are awkwardly posed in various animal costumes add to this mood.  The odd looking children paired with text that made me remember that reality was a little less definite as a child (“The trampoline in Bertie’s yard had tightly rusted springs that flung her to the Heavens.”) drew me into this book.  It left me a little unsettled and made me flip through the pages over and over.

This book is definitely not for children who are learning their alphabet.  The vocabulary is advanced, using words like taut, marveled, and mourn.  I can see using this book to encourage students to find different, more interesting words in their writing.  I can also imagine using this as a precursor to making an unusual class alphabet book of some sort.       

Whoever You Are

Written by Mem Fox

Illustrated by Leslie Staub

Grades K-6

5 Stars

The simple message of this picture book tells us that despite differences of language, appearance, and ways of life, people are really very much alike.

This is a beautiful book with a beautiful message and it definitely shifted the furniture in my head.  The illustrations are oil paintings that depict people from different cultures from all over the world.  They are surrealistic in style and remind me of a combination of the works of Marc Chagall and Frida Kahlo.  If you look closely at the paintings, there is a man in a cloud suit who seems to be ushering a group of children from page to page as he shows them the similarities of people from all over the world.  The text is simple and to the point, but poetic and touching.    Fox uses examples of similarities that children will easily relate to, such as, “Their smiles are like yours, and they laugh just like you.  Their hurts are like yours, and they cry like you too”.  The first time I read this book, this part of the book gave me the chills.  I know that there are times that I will read about or see stories on television about a disaster or war in a distant part of the world.  Many times, the physical distance of the place allows me to remain untouched by these events.  Other times a photograph or moving story helps me to relate to the people affected.  The text and illustrations of this book emphasize the kinship of all people, regardless of location, race, or culture.

I would use this book in lessons on geography, culture, empathy, differences and similarities.

Check out Mem Fox's website!

Some Things Are Scary

Illustrated by Jules Feiffer

Grades K-4

4 Stars

This book lists a number of things that kids might find scary.

When I first read this book, I thought it was a so-so book, but I shared it with a 2^nd grader who had a great time with it and it led us to have a conversation about what things are scary.  The scary things listed in this book range from watching your hair get cut too short, to getting hugged by someone you don’t like, to knowing that you’ll grow up to be an adult.  Each phrase ends with the words, “is scary”.  The girl who I shared the book with reads at a low level, and the repeating phrases allowed her to participate in reading the book with me.  The pictures are cartoons that both myself and the student I was reading found pretty funny.  She enjoyed guessing what the pictures were showing before I read her the page, and when we ran out of time before we finished the book, she insisted that I tell her what the last pages said before she went back to her desk.  This book definitely engaged the student that I read it with.  It mattered to her and got her to share with me some things that frighten her. 

I would use this book as a conversation starter about things we are afraid of, things that we aren’t afraid of, and how this is different for every person.

Learn more about the author, Florence Parry Heide!

 

The Night the Scary Beasties Popped Out of My Head

By Daniel and David Kamish

Grades K-3

3 Stars

A boy draws his nightmare to get it out of his head and before he has a chance to erase it, it takes on a life of its own.  The boy has to use his imagination to defeat his nightmare.

This was a so-so book.  The pictures are cartoons that look as if a child has drawn them, which is an interesting element to the book.  The main character draws his nightmare along with tools he uses to battle his nightmare.  They are imaginative and funny and make the story feel authentic.  The text is also fun.  I also read this book to a 2^nd grade student, and she was attentive throughout the book, but didn’t have much to say about the story.  I brought this book to read to her because she had requested “scary” books, but I wonder if this would have gone over better with a boy.  The character is a boy named Dan, the story features a Boogieman that was sneezed out of the Beastie’s nose, and without stereotyping too much, the pictures look like they were drawn by a boy (lots of dark colors and monsters).  This was a fun story, but not one that I feel will stay with me or that would become an important book for many children.

I would use this book to talk about imagination and storytelling.

The Stranger in the Mirror

Written and Illustrated by Allen Say

Grades 3-5

In this book the main character goes to bed looking like a boy and wakes up to discover that his face has changed to that of an old man.  Everyone treats him differently although everything else about him is the same.

This book moved the furniture in my head clear across the room.  This book was unsettling to me, and I’m not entirely sure that I understand it.  The story begins with a young-looking Sam missing his grandfather who has recently left or was sent away, presumably because of issues related to his old age.  He goes to bed and then wakes up to discover that his face has turned into the face of an old man.  Although everything else about him is the same, everyone from his parents and sister to his classmates and teachers treat him differently.  At one point in the story, Sam skateboards and does some tricks.  “That was fun, he said, remembering.  “Pretty good for an old man.  But what’s the difference?  Who cares what I look like?  I’m Sam.  Nobody can change that.”  The theme of this picture book seems to be touching on the way elderly people are marginalized and that a person remains the same person, even when their physical appearance is altered in some way, but Say doesn’t say these explicitly.  This is a story that could be read and understood in different layers and levels of meaning.  I would like to hear how a group of students interpreted this story.

Learn more about the author, Allen Say!

Kevin Henkes is both the author and the illustrator of his books, and his work is a perfect example of how illustrations and the text work together to create meaning in a picture book.  It was interesting to me to learn that Kevin was drawn to art as a young child and that he only began to write in high school.  Now when he works on his books, he begins with the words, making sure that each word and line is perfect before he creates the illustrations for his books.  This was surprising to me because the text and illustrations in his books work so well together that I thought that they must have been created together, page by page.   

For instance, in his book Owen, the illustrations give us information not mentioned with words that add a lot of fun and extra meaning to the story.  In this book, Owen's neighbor gives his parents advice on how to get Owen to leave behind his favorite blanket.  We know that his neighbor thinks that he’s too old for his blanket, but the pictures show us her rather nosy disapproval.  We also see that Owen is secretly listening in when she gives his parents advice.  Henkes shows us their indirect rivalry without ever writing a word about it.  The words in the book make the neighbor’s advice sound almost neutral or disinterested but the pictures show us otherwise.

 It seemed to me that Henkes work has continued to improve as time has gone on.  Early in his career, his books featured human children.  The illustrations in these books are beautiful and I enjoyed looking at them as isolated pieces of art.  In Clean Enough, Henkes tells the story of a little boy who, while playing and enjoying his bath forgets to actually wash himself.  When his mother tells him that he has to get out of the bath, he decides that he must be clean enough after all of the time he’s spent in the tub.  The illustrations are realistic pencil drawings with what looks like watercolor.  The voice of the child is authentic and the story line made me remember when taking a bath was a time to play in the water.  This being said, this book didn't really move me in the way that many of Henkes' later books do.  I think that some of this has to do with the changes that Henkes made in the way he illustrates his books.  After his first few books, Henkes changed his characters from human to animals.  Henkes said that using animals allowed him to be more playful with his illustrations, to have his animal characters do things that human characters couldn't (such as show emotion with their ears and tails) and freed him from having to use models for his drawings.  In my opinion, the illustrations of his mice characters are much more fun and interactive with the text than his earlier books with human characters.  I can see the fun Henkes had with Lily in the book Lily's Purple Plastic Purse.  In many of the pictures of this book, Henkes has drawn a border around his illustrations, only to have part of Lily bursting outside of the frame.  I also think that Henkes chose to write about topics that relate to some of the difficulties of childhood in his later books.  These topics include dealing with a friend who isn't acting like much of a friend in A Weekend With Wendell, apologizing for doing something hurtful to someone we care about in Lily's Purple Plastic Purse, and parting with a beloved item that we are getting ready to outgrow in Owen.  All children deal with these issues and all adults remember dealing with them.  In these books, Henkes delves into topics that are trying and difficult and part of growing up.  These books teach us about dealing with these problems, but not in an overly didactic way.  We are primarily enjoying Henkes' writing and illustrations.  I would like to work with first or second grade students in the future and would use many of Henkes' books in units on friendship, empathy, communication, and imagination.  

Two more picture books!

Hands: Growing Up to Be an Artist
Written and Illustrated by Lois Ehlert

K-6

5 stars

This book has a child narrator who shows us the different art projects of her father, mother, and herself. 

I love this book!  Ehlert plays with with the shape of the pages by making some sections the size and shape of a small tool box, scissors, and gardening gloves.  Ehlert’s text hides inside these spaces.  The pictures are photographs of the tools the unseen characters use and the art projects they’ve produced.  The tools, materials, and artwork are vibrant and colorful.  The photo collages that Ehlert has put into her book make me want to root around in my house for different materials to create my own piece of artwork. 

I would use this book as a way to encourage both enthusiastic and reluctant artists in my classroom to thinks about making art with different materials and in new ways.  In Ehlert’s book, she stresses that artwork can be many different things including woodworking projects, clothing, gardening and painting.  I think that this book could help students who don’t view themselves as artists to recognize other mediums and talents as artistic.  This book could also encourage “artistic” kids to try something new.

Owl Moon

Written by Jane Yolen and Illustrated by John Schoenherr

K-5

5 Stars

This Caldecott medal winning book has beautiful pictures.  The artwork is realistic and the illustrator has hidden little details and animals that made me want to look at each picture for several minutes.  The story is engaging and is written in the voice of child going on his or her first owling adventure with their father.  The author adds sensory details to her writing that shows us the quiet, cold adventure just as well as the illustrations.

This book could be used in talking about birds of prey, nocturnal animals, how animals survive in the winter, and habitats.  The pictures really help to show these topics more than the words in the story.  There are animals hiding in the illustrations that are not central to the story, but that could start a discussion on many of these topics.

Kevin Henkes picture books

Owen

Written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes

Picture book for early elementary (K-2)

5 stars

Owen is the story of a little mouse, the blanket the he loves and refuses to be separated from, and his parents’ attempts to get him to leave his blanket behind.

This book was a quick, fun read.  The dialogue was believable and authentic.  The characters felt familiar and realistic and the pictures were beautiful.  Owen is an  imaginative and spunky book.

I would probably read this book on the first day of school in a Kindergarden, first, or second grade classroom.  I think that many kids could relate to Owen’s predicament of loving a blanket or toy that they have or soon will outgrow.   They will also identify with Owen’s problem of not being able to bring his blanket to school with him.  This book could help some kids feel better about leaving their special items behind on their first day of school.

A Good Day

Written and Illustrated by Kevin Henkes

Picture book for K-4

3 Stars

A Good Day tells the story of how a bad day for four creatures turns into a good day for each of them.

This story reminded me of the story, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst for the obvious reason that it talks about having a bad day.  In my opinion, Viorst’s book is a much better story.  A Good Day is an example of a book written primarily to teach a lesson.  There is very little else to the book other than the message that a bad day can turn into a good day.  The best part of this book is the beautiful pictures. 

This book could be used to teach kids about persevering and staying positive when they are having a bad day.  I think that I would also show the pictures to kids as examples of relatively simple illustrations that add quite a lot to written text. 

Shelia Rae, the Brave

Written and Illustrated by Kevin Henkes

Picture Book for K-5

4 Stars

Shelia Rae, the Brave tells the story of a brave mouse who wanders too far from home and is rescued by her younger sister.

I thought this story, and especially the pictures for this book were hilarious.  Shelia Rae and her younger sister, Louise talk and act like real, little kids.  Shelia Rae learns that she’s not as fearless as she thought and that her sister isn’t “such a scaredy-cat”.  The details in Henkes’ pictures from Louise’s pointy little pig-tail sticking up behind a bush she is hiding from to the beautiful flowers in his backgrounds really make the story come alive.

This might be a good book to share with kids when they are with older or younger buddy classes.  This could be a good conversation starter as to how older and younger kids can all contribute in valuable ways.

Because of Winn-Dixie

Because of Winn-Dixie

By Kate DiCamillo

Novel:  4^th-6^th grade

5 Stars

Because of Winn-Dixie is the story of ten year-old India Opal Buloni, Winn Dixie, the dog she rescues, and the collection of lonely, odd-ball townspeople that they bring together. 

I sometimes feel like a collector of somewhat strange people.  Aloof, interesting, and eccentric people seem to gravitate towards me, and while I’m grateful that I get to hear some of their stories, I’m always left with the feeling that these people are lonely, and that there’s nothing that I can do to change that fact.  In Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal and Winn Dixie are able to make a community out of the interesting, lonely people that Opal meets.  Opal and Winn Dixie bring together their strange friends in a way that helps all of them to heal a little bit.  This book reminded me of the picture book, Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch in that both stories have characters who are initially left out.  In both books, the characters join their communities and both the main characters and the people that they come into contact with benefit from their new relationships.

Based on my first paragraph, you might think that Because of Winn-Dixie sounds a bit hokey.  As the book drew to a close, I was afraid that DiCamillo was going to finish her book with a perfect happily-ever-after ending.  Without giving everything away, Opal’s problems don’t all disappear.  She learns some hard lessons, like when Gloria tells her, “There ain’t no way you can hold on to something that wants to go, you understand?  You can only love what you got while you got it, “(DiCamillo, 159).    As Turnell and Jacobs mentioned in their article, “How to recognize a Well-Written Book”,  “Good books can and do provide lessons, but in good books, the story is primary and the lessons are secondary.  They are secrets to be discovered rather than sermons to be suffered,” (26).  DiCamillo has hidden many lessons in her book.  They pop up now and then without sounding preachy and without disrupting the plot.

I think that I would read this novel as a read-aloud book sometime in the beginning of a school year.  I think that it could spark some conversations on community, friendship, and inclusion.  This book would fit well into a community theme and would be a fun book to start the school year.