Tag Archives: Fiction

Grandpa’s Soup

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Title: Grandpa’s Soup

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Author: Eiko Kadono

Illustrator/Photographer: Satomi Ichikawa

Publisher and Year: Kaisei-Sha Publishing Co. and 1997

Number of pages: 31 pgs

Tags: Olivia Simkins, Fantasy, Fiction, 2-3, Culture, Picture Book, Fable

Genre: Fable

Analysis:

This book is about an old man whose wife passes away. He wakes up one day and decides to make the soup his wife used to make for him. As he makes the soup he realizes that he forgets a step and day by day and makes the soup over and over again until it is just right. Along the way he shares his soup with 3 mice, a cat, a dog and 9 children.

This story could function as a window because this book was originally published in Japanese and later was translated to English. With that being said, the audience can look into a different culture. The audience can see that in this man’s culture, his wife used to make him this special soup. In having him recreate this soup, the soup brings back memories of his wife and it shows how important it is to the old man to get the soup just right. It could also serve as a mirror from some readers. Some may read this story and relate their own lives to the old man’s. The text may remind them of a special dish one of their family members or friends make for them. This text does a good job of including different races and cultures throughout the book. Even though the words don’t ever really specify a certain culture the illustrations do.

The text in this book always appears to be on the opposite side of the picture until the second to last image when the children are sharing the soup with the cat, dog, mice and the man. This invites the audience to be a part of the story, as if the audience were sharing the soup along with the characters in the story. Also, in the very beginning of the story, the colors are very symbolic of the emotions conveyed in the story. The colors started out dark to show that the grandpa is very lonely and sad. As the story goes on the color get brighter and brighter to show his mood improving as he makes the soup better and better. This story could evoke the belief that the grandpa must share his soup with everyone else, leaving him to have a little portion of what he has made. Some may view this as a socialist view. Socialism is where the wealth or good is distributed between the community and every gets a “fair” share of anything and everything.

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Have You Filled A Bucket Today?

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Title: Have You Filled A Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids Bucket1

Author: Carol McCloud

Illustrator: David Messing

Publisher and Year: Ferne Press, 2006

Number of Pages: 31

Genre: Fiction 

Analysis: Have You Filled a Bucket Today? is a children’s picture book which received a Mom’s Choice Award, and teaches children the benefits of kindness to everyone, even complete strangers. Throughout the book a bucket is used as a symbol of a person’s happiness. If the bucket is full, then a person is happy, but if the bucket is empty a person is sad. 

Have You Filled a Bucket Today? includes five different cultures on the first page and continues to show people of different races and ages throughout the book. Not only are different races and ages exhibited throughout the book but also a child in a wheelchair is represented. This book can serve as a mirror for a reader who is acting in a caring and loving manner towards others, but this book could also be considered a door since it encourages others to act and fill other people’s buckets. Society often thinks that adults have the influence, but this book shows that through simple actions, children can impact their peers, adults, teachers, and even strangers.

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Perceptually, this book appears to be a happy and joyful book. The text is big,clear and easy for students to read. The  amount of text represented on each page is just enough to grasp the understanding and then move on to the next page. Each page adds onto the previous page, while still reflecting the same message.

Structurally, the diverse characters vary, but the image of the bucket remains the same. The bucket reflects a character’s outward appearance. For example, characters that wear glasses have a bucket that wears glasses. This artistic style shows the audience that the bucket is not an item separate from the person. A bucket is symbolic of the person’s feelings and emotions on the inside. Since this book suggests that children have the power to impact a person’s happiness, the images of children and adults are on the same level. This image is a powerful point because it shows that children can impact adults just as much if not more than adults can impact children. Throughout the book, the images mirror the text, showing exactly what is written, but in some instances the images add to the text further explaining the story through pictures.

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Finally, ideologically this book’s positive message will have a lasting effect on children more than the negative lesson. One aspect that was negative was when the author points out that a bully is a “bucket dipper” (p. 15). The illustrator adds onto these words by creating images that show bullying actions. These words and images give children examples of ways that they should not behave towards their peers. The first positive message shows children the affect that happiness can have on other people as well as their own happiness. Not only does this book portray a positive message overall, but also there are relatable examples that students can take away from this book.

Jennie’s Hat

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Title: Jennie’s Hat

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Author: Ezra Jack Keats

Illustrator/Photographer: Ezra Jack Keats

Publisher and Year: The Penguin Group, 1966

Number of pages: 30 pgs

Tags: Olivia Simkins, Family, Fiction, 2-3, Fantasy, Picture Book

Genre: Fantasy

Analysis:

Jennie’s Hat is about a little girl named Jennie who is receiving a hat from her Aunt. When Jennie receives the hat, it isn’t what she expected. Jennie then sets out to find the perfect hat. This text could serve as a mirror for children. They can read this book and apply their own schema to the text. The book may have them think about the time they once received a gift from a family member and it turned out to be something they were not expecting. By having this text serve as a mirror it can also have the audience more intrigued as to what Jennie is going to do to make this present more appealing to her. The text may also give the students a chance to reflect on how Jennie reacted to the gift and whether she handled the situation correctly. The text can also give the readers time to reflect on how they might have responded themselves, if they were to receive the hat as a gift. This text also depicts different cultures through out the text. The words do not go in depth about different cultures. However, the illustrations do present other cultures through the people in Jennie’s everyday life. This story could give the readers the ideological thinking that Jennie’s response was not a nice one and she should have been happy and content with the gift she has received. It also could evoke a different kind of response. The audience could see the way Jennie changed the gift she received to fit something that served a better purpose to her, and agree that they believe she did the right thing. When looking deeper into the illustrations the readers can see that they have no frame around them allowing the audience to be a part of the story. It also allows us to see that different cultures have been featured in the book even though the text does not specifically state that the characters are of different races and cultures.

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