Tag Archives: Picture Book

A Birthday Cake for George Washington

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Author: Ramin Ganeshram

Illustrator: Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Publisher and Year: Scholastic Press 2016

Number of pages: 28

Genre: Historical Fiction

Analysis:

A Birthday Cake for George Washington is a fictionalized retelling of George Washington’s kitchen slave Hercules and his family. The story takes place on George Washington’s birthday and Hercules, his daughter, and the rest of the kitchen staff are making the president a cake but run into a problem; they have no sugar. They search the kitchen and decide to use the president’s favorite condiment, honey, as a supplement.

The general plot of the book is fairly straight forward and would be a fine story if not for the ideologies presented by this story. This book has received a lot of criticism for both the way it is written and for the illustrations. Because of the breezy nature of the way Hercules’ family lives in the story, slavery is presented as an easy time for slaves where all the slaves were pleased to work for the president. The notion that there is a positive aspect of slavery is also presented through the illustrations in which all of the slaves are portrayed as smiling at almost all times. The only time the characters are not smiling is when there are no white characters present in the story.

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Both the text and the illustrations combine to create a book that ignores and erases the terrors and horrors of slavery. Because this book is a fictionalized retelling of a real slave family, it erases an important part of Hercules’s history. In this book, Hercules’s daughter often tells of how proud her father is to work for and be favored by the president. In reality, almost all slaves were oppressed and mistreated, even Hercules. Hercules’s real story is not one that should inspire hope to fair treatment of slaves because he eventually abandoned his family and escaped slavery, which goes directly against the books idyllic nature that these slaves were happy. It is possible that very few slaves could have lived a life that was not as terrible as typically depicted and rather as depicted in the story, but Hercules was not one of those slaves.

Overall, this plot of the book is not one that is inherently offensive, but the happy slave illustrations and erasure of the actual horrors of slavery leave A Birthday Cake for George Washington to have an offensive ideology.

 

The Dark

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Title: The Dark

Author: Lemony Snicket

Illustrator: Jon Klassen

Publishers and Year: Little Brown and Company 2013

Number of pages: 36

Genre: Fiction

This book is about a little boy who is afraid of the dark that lives in his basement. The story starts off by him describing the dark. However, the dark eventually beckons to him and reveals to him the light within the dark (a light bulb in a dresser of the dark, scary basement). After this, the boy overcomes his fear of the dark, and they live in harmony.

This text functions as both a mirror and a door. It functions as a mirror because many children are indeed afraid of the dark. Throughout the book common fears and misunderstandings about the dark are addressed both in the text and in the illustrations. This allows the audience to remember their own fears and connect with the boy on a deeper level. I believe it is a door as well, however, because the readers get to watch as the boy overcomes his fear of the dark and learn the truth of the dark. This presents the reader with the opportunity to take the same leap in their own lives.

In this book, color is intensely used to distribute power. There is not a lot of color used in the book, but there is an intense use of shadowing. There is a stark contrast between the dark and the light, with the dark clearly overpowering. The ominous darkness that the illustrator used plays into the fear that is evoked through the author’s words.

In addition to this, the illustrator was very purposeful with his placement of the boy. On the first page the readers see him as a small, two-dimensional character squatting low to the ground on the left-hand side of the page, just out of the line of the shadow. So, although being in the lit part of the room helped to make the boy secure, he was depicted as small, weak, disadvantaged, and closed minded by the illustrator. As the story progressed, the pages got darker and darker while the boy got smaller and smaller. Eventually the boy wasn’t even on the pages anymore; it was only darkness. This speaks volumes to me of the power that the darkness held over the boy. Once the boy meets with the darkness and the colors/light have left completely from the pages, the story starts to change again. Color and light is slowly brought back into the frames quickly to show the vibrancy and lack of fear. Eventually the author brings the story back full circle, and it ends with the exact same picture of the boy in the left-hand corner. This time, however, there is contentment on the boy’s face rather than fear.

This intense use of shadowing helps the readers to follow the progression of fear and then freedom from fear throughout the book. Although the placement of the text does not provide any additions to the story, it is fairly plain text that simply serves the purpose of stating the words. This goes well with the lack of color seen throughout the story. This helps the book achieve its goal of unpacking fear in a new way. It reveals the benefits of facing fears in order to gain freedom from the fear that can be crippling. It empowers children to walk fearlessly and to be brave in the face of fear.

This Is A Moose

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Title: This is A Moose

Author: Richard T. Morris

Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld

Publishers and Year: Little Brown and Company, 2014

Number of pages: 39

Genre: Fiction

This book is takes the reader on the set of a movie about a Moose with a wild heart and big dreams. On the set the Moose reveals his big dreams of becoming an astronaut, much to the horror of the director. Even though Moose is continually put down for his dreams, he never gives up.

I believe that this text operates as a mirror for the intended audience. I believe this book acts as a mirror because it could possibly reflect the reader’s own feelings. Children have wild and crazy dreams at times. However, adults tend to snuff out the hope for such dreams with our words or our actions if not careful. The author presents the thought that children can achieve their dreams despite what others think they should be or should do. This opens a door for them to believe it for themselves and continue pursing dreams that might otherwise seem impossible.

Throughout the book, power is given largely to the negative and discouraging words being spoken over the animals. The pictures often conflict with the discouraging words in that the animals continue to pursue their dreams despite repeated warnings that “a moose can’t do that” or “a giraffe can’t be this.” The contradiction seen between the text and image is a powerful statement to children to push through persecution and reach for the stars.

The illustrator’s use of vibrant colors and attention-grabbing text draws in the reader. The pictures are comical enough to engage the reader from the first page. However, the progression of the story is clearly shown in a very memorable way. The text in this story plays just as an important role as the illustrations, however. The text is extremely large, very vibrant, and often uses an odd, attention-grabbing font. Word bubbles are used to express dialogue in a fun way that also alerts the reader to the urgency of tone. This heightens the emotion behind the words being spoken and makes Moose’s victory that much greater. In addition to this, the readers see the progression between Moose’s hopes being openly spoken, verbally torn apart, and the perseverance it took to see him succeed. Overall, this book helps us to realize that dreams, like people, come in all shapes and sizes and that people should never allow our perception of a person to limit their potential. Believe /encourage people to pursue their dreams, and don’t let the world put anyone’s potential in a box.

Alex the Parrot: No ordinary bird

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Author: Stephanie Spinner

Illustrator: Meilo So

Publisher and Year: Alfred A. Knopf 2012

Number of pages: 38

Genre: Non-fiction

Analysis

Alex the Parrot is a short chapter book with pictures that describes the life of the African Grey Macaw Alex and his handler Irene Pepperberg. It tells of Irene’s experiments with Alex in order to prove that birds are smart creatures capable of understanding human concepts such as colors, numbers, and shapes.

This book functions as a window or door into the scientific community. The main culture addressed and discussed in the book is that of Irene and her experiences and observations in the scientific field. At many points in the book, it is discussed that Irene has to do certain things in order to ensure that her research will be respected. The book displays scientific culture as something that is easily understandable to children and explains processes Irene follows in a way that is easier for students to understand. The pictures themselves do little to add to the story itself but enhance the overall experience of the book.

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The text is broken into smaller three to five sentence paragraphs and each page typically has two to five small paragraphs on it. Having the text broken up in such a way is conducive for a children’s literature book because it allows children to digest the harder information in smaller doses. The pictures are done in a sort of watercolor style and while the humans seem more cartoonish, Alex and any other animals look very realistic. This adds to the readers understanding and visualization that all the events discussed in the books actually occurred. The illustrator uses large pictures and bright colors to capture attention of the reader. The illustrator also uses humor in some instances to break up larger portions of text and keep the reader interested.

The book itself is a truthful retelling of Irene’s experiment and discusses Alex’s death and his death’s impact on the future the experiment. This book is a good tool to use and have in a classroom and is suitable for many ages. This book can function as a stepping stone into discussion of many different aspects of the scientific field. Some examples include experimentation hypothesis process, validity of an experiment, or the general topic of animal brain function. Overall, this book can serve a way to get children interested in scientific topics.

One Hundred Hungry Ants

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Author: Elinor J Pinczes

Illustrator: Bonnie Mackain

Publisher and Year: Houghton Mifflin Company 1993

Number of pages: 28

Genre: Fiction

Analysis:

One Hundred Hungry Ants is a sort of retelling of the song “the ants go marching” children’s nursery rhyme. In the book, 100 ants are marching to a picnic and do not want to be late otherwise they will miss the food. The smallest ant brings up the idea that they should form shorter lines so they can all get there faster. Unfortunately, every time they rearrange it is a mess and the ants waste time. By the time they reach the picnic, all the food is gone and the 99 ants are upset with the smallest ant for making them late.

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Overall, this book does not have much cultural context to it. It could be argued that the idea of a picnic is one of a certain set of values and may have specific cultural context, but because it is not from a human’s perspective but rather an insect’s perspective, it doesn’t fit into a window, mirror, or door category. While it could be a good tool to use when discussing multiplication, it is mainly an ideologically superficial book with not much deeper meaning. Because One Hundred Hungry Ants only has a superficial ideology, this makes it a helpful book to have in one’s classroom.

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Not all the books used in a classroom need to have a deeper meaning, and the fact that this has little meaning besides being a fun story allows your students to learn from just the events that take place, rather than paying attention to cultural values that take place in the book. Because of the repetitive nature of the text it would be simple to use it in the context of multiplication. Every time the ants change positions is an example of different multiplications. Because the ants change position into different lines, these lines can be used to show multiplication and factors such as: 1 times 100 is 100, 2 times 50 is 100, 4 times 25 is 100 and 5 times 20 is 100.  Overall, this book does not have much cultural significance of cultural depth but could be used as a helpful math resource in a classroom.

I Am The Dog

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Title: I am the Dog

Author: Daniel Pinkwater

Illustrator: Jack E. Davis

Publishers and Year: Harper Collins Publisher, 2010

Number of pages: 30

Genre: Fiction

This book tells the story of a boy who switches places with his dog for the day.  It goes through the day’s events with the roles reversed, and the readers enter the mind of the dog through the boy.  The story culminates with the conclusion that being a dog is better than being a boy.

I believe that this book is being used as a window. Many children have pets in their homes or know someone who does. By Jacob pretending to be a dog for a day, the readers get an up close and personal look into the mind of a dog. While reading the book I found myself thinking like (the readers assume) a dog would think and focusing on things a dog would focus on. Since children do not always put themselves in someone else’s shoes easily, this book provides an excellent window into the mind of their pet. They are able to realize the things that are important and possibly build more compassion towards them. Not only does this give them a window into the mind of a dog, but it opens them up to being able to step into the perspectives of the people around them as well.

In this book, power is distributed evenly. I noticed from the first time reading it that the illustrator drew the boy and his dog to be equal in size. Throughout the entire book they stay this same size. This shows me the equality between the two. They are switching places but the power never shifts. They remain equally important throughout the book. This speaks of the importance of having as much value for someone else’s’ perspective as your own.

As far as cultures go, there is only one culture represented: white middle class. There is no diversity in the characters throughout the book. Even during the scene at the boy’s elementary school, every single child is white.

The visuals in this text help bridge the gap between the new mindset the readers are being introduced to and the common actions of dogs that the readers see on a daily basis. For example, the readers see the dog excited for food. The readers have all seen that at one point of another. However, seeing that while hearing the intense emotion of excitement from the dog’s perspective gives opportunity for children to connect the new information-to-information they already have. There is not much to be gained through the structure of the text, however. The text is not formatted in any particular way that brings special meaning to the story. However, the text itself does a fantastic job of incorporating sounds and stream of consciousness that a dog might have which helps the message come across in a very clear way. Overall, this book reminds us that it is important for people to view others with as much value as they would view themselves and to be able to view situations through the lens of another.

Let’s Play As A Team

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Author(s): K. Hallinan

Illustrator/Photographer: K. Hallinan

Publisher and Year: Ideals Children’s Books in 1996

Number of Pages: 22

Genre: Fiction

Analysis:

This book was about a group of friends who all have different talents and enjoy playing different sports, and they are trying to decide what game they should all play together. In the end, they decide to play a sport that nobody is particularly good at, but by creating teams fairly, all their talents will shine through.

I believe that this story could function as a door for some children to realize that everybody has different talents and interests, and this is a good thing, especially when working together as a team. This could also function as a mirror for children to recognize situations where they have been in a team and how much fun it was when everyone had the chance to be included. Also, the illustrations for this book include children of many different races, genders, and abilities, to enforce the idea that everyone is different and has different talents. All the illustrations are unframed and take up the entire page, which allows the reader to really feel like they are a part of the action and decision making as well, thus emphasizing the theme of teamwork and togetherness.

Although this story’s main intent may be to teach children the importance of teamwork, I think that there are a few issues with the way it was presented. This book seems to give white people the power, or explain why the American culture is the best. For example, all the children seem to have very white names such as Sue, Henry, Ben, Jay, Jeannie, and P.K. (the author’s name), but these children are portrayed as coming from different races or ethnicities. Also, the American flag is continuously shown throughout the text, from the title page of book where all the children are shown paying their respects to it, to the ending of the end of the book where the little white boy is holding it. There are also references to the way that the American people vote for their government, the children all vote and they state that it is “democratic and just” (Hallinan 22). However, I believe that this story is not an accurate representation of the American culture, because it does not reveal the injustice and corruption that is within our country and specifically the government. This book may reinforce the idea that the American way of life is better than other countries because there are no flaws and everyone is included, without discrimination.

The Table Where Rich People Sit

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Author(s): Byrd Baylor

Illustrator/Photographer: Peter Parnall

Publisher and Year: First Aladdin Paperbacks edition July 1998

Number of Pages: 27

Genre: Fiction, Poetry

Analysis:

This story is about a little girl, nicknamed Mountain Girl by her parents, who begins the book by stating that her family is not rich but her parents seem to disagree with her. She believes that their kitchen table her parents made is not a table where rich people would sit, because it is not fancy or luxurious. After calling together a family meeting about the financial state they are in, she soon begins to realize that her family is rich in experiences and opportunities and that this is even more valuable than being rich in money.

This book provides the opportunity for children to learn and discuss poverty, but it also provides the platform that being rich is not the only way to be happy. This book allows children to look at their own lives as well and recognize all the experiences they have had that makes them rich. The text of the book does not directly address a particular race or ethnicity, but they do mention that the children were born in Arizona and Mexico and the illustrations depict a family that lives in an area with mountains, cacti, sunshine, animals, and deserts. However, I believe that this story is a criticism of the fast-paced and industrial culture of the U.S. that has been engrained in our society, even among children, who now associate money with success and happiness. The more nature-loving culture in this book is praised because they do not believe that too much value should be placed on material items.

The illustrations in this book are very powerful and emphasize the importance of nature and family. In all the illustrations the characters, scenery, and objects are all connected in some way, which reinforces the idea that this family is very in touch with nature, but also that nature is extremely valuable because it is in every image. This story challenges the idea that the only way to be rich is if you have a lot of money, and it does a great job of showing how Mountain Girl has slowly come to realize that being in nature and all the experiences her family has had in their current job are what makes someone rich.

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A Day with No Crayons

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Author: Elizabeth Rusch

Illustrator: Chad Cameron

Publisher/Year: Rising Moon, 2007

Pages: 27

Genre: Realistic Fiction

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Analysis:

In A Day with No Crayons, a young Hispanic girl named Liza has her beloved crayons taken away for a day when she colors the walls of her room. Although sad at first, Liza quickly realizes that she does not need crayons to make art; art is all around her just waiting to be uncovered. Slowly, Liza’s world turns less and less gray as she colors her world using grass, flowers, mud, berries, leaves, and bricks.

 On a very basic level, many young readers can relate to Liza’s challenge of having to find alternate means of fun after getting in trouble and having things taken away. A Day with No Crayons does not really provide a window to the lives of others but it does, however, provide a window to the unexplored world we live in. Liza is surprised to find all of the beautiful and exotic colors around her, just waiting to be discovered, named, and transformed. Liza even concludes that a day apart from her crayons was actually quite liberating. Liza also models good problem solving skills, such as how to create something out of seemingly nothing.

 Although initially power rests with the mother and her ability to take away or give back Liza’s crayons, creative power ultimately rests with Liza, for she can choose to find and work with the color and art around her. The absence of crayons does not create a power struggle between Liza and her mother, nor does it represent an unconquerable obstacle for Liza. The mother is the only parent involved in the story and is rather stereotypically shown to be the rule-enforcing, punishment-giving parent. Although this instance of taking the crayons away helps Liza to grow (as an artist), it may still enforce in young readers’ minds the notion of a father as a buddy and only-around-for-the-fun sort of guy, rather than as an involved or active parent.

 The beauty and uniqueness of the world is conveyed by the use of creative and descriptive color names, such as cornflower, laser lemon, meadow green, and wondermelon. These words help communicate Liza’s excitement about the rainbow of colors around her. To help Liza’s world come alive in color, actual photographs of nature are skillfully blended with painted illustrations. Cameron’s changing color scheme is symbolic. When first deprived of her crayons, Liza feels blue and everything around her is illustrated in grayscale. However, bright colored illustrations gradually consume more and more of the page as Liza realizes the freedom of not being tied to her crayons and coloring books. The illustrations are also diverse in style, ranging from a two page spreads, to multiple unframed images per page, and to paintings that seem to crawl up the edge of the page. Liza is similarly drawn at different perspectives and with changing expressions. These dynamic illustrations captivate the book’s creative energy and show Liza to be a lively individual with spunk. With Rusch’s decision to have a female main character, A Day with No Crayons advertises, to a degree, that art and coloring are feminine hobbies. However, Rusch’s book nonetheless embodies a positive sky-is-the-limit attitude, and makes an interesting claim about art: that nature is more inspiring than material objects, such as crayons and coloring books.

Those Shoes

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Author: Maribeth Boelts

Illustrator: Noah Z. Jones

Publisher/Year: Candlewick Press, 2007

Pages: 32

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Analysis:

In Those Shoes, Jeremy, a young African American boy living with his grandmother, wants and dreams of only one thing: getting the high-tops everyone is wearing at school. After his old shoes fall apart, Jeremy is forced to wear a pair of childish and embarrassing shoes from his guidance counselor that other kids laugh at, causing Jeremy to impulsively buy a pair of high-tops that are cheap but too small for him. After much thought, Jeremy befriends his classmate and gives him the high-tops.

 Any child who has ever felt that fitting in with the cool crowd meant wearing certain things can relate to Jeremy’s over-idealized view of “those shoes” and his desperation in trying to snag a pair for himself. Those Shoes can also function as a mirror for children who have made sacrifices because of a tight money situation. Jeremy’s grandma tried to remind him that expensive high-tops are a want, whereas new snow boots are a need. Those Shoes can function as a window in the same way. The story introduces children of a more stable financial situation to how it feels to not have all of ones’ wants satisfied. The story also introduces readers to the experiences of children who live a needs-only based life, such as having to wear free, outdated shoes or shopping at thrift stores for better deals. Finally, Those Shoes provides an admirable model of behavior. Jeremy knew that keeping the cool shoes that did not fit was wasteful so he gave them to Antonio, a classmate who could fit them and who did not laugh in class when Jeremy wore the counselor’s shoes (he too, wore broken shoes). Jeremy’s kind gesture represents a simple way young readers can pay it forward and not hoard things with no practical purpose.

 Those Shoes broadens materialism and conformity to boys, and exposes how girls are not the only ones concerned with fashion and having the “cool” clothes. Boelts gives a nondiscriminatory, yet accurate, portrayal of African American culture. In contrast to the white norm of a nuclear family, Jeremy lives with his grandmother in an urban high-rise apartment. Jeremy and his grandmother are humbly depicted as members of the lower middle class, money-conscious but still happy. Jones modernly portrays cultural diversity (in urban settings) with African American, Asian, Hispanic, Indian, and White characters.

 The repetition of “those shoes” conveys the intensity of Jeremy’s want and how to the impressionable child, there are cool shoes and there are other shoes. The text in Those Shoes mostly mirrors the images, although the images elaborate on the strong emotions Jeremy experiences: hope, happiness, frustration, (stubborn) determination, and intense desire/preoccupation. The large size of the painted advertisement for the shoes (compared to the size of Jeremy) and its placement high on the building help to over-idealize the shoes and represent the power propaganda has over the weak and easily persuaded buyer. Jeremy is often depicted as shorter and smaller than his male classmates, suggestive of his suffering self-image around peers who have the high-tops. Jeremy and Antonio are the same size, signifying both their friendship and similar experiences of having worn-down shoes and being the last to get their hands on the high-tops. On the last page, Antonio and Jeremy are racing each other into the distance and to the right. As new friends, they are moving forward and no longer held back by the shoe dilemma. They can now focus on more important things, such as relationships. Overall, Those Shoes highlights the power of propaganda, and challenges materialism and conformity as the keys to happiness.