Tag Archives: Realistic Fiction

Last Stop on Market Street

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Title: Last Stop on Market Street

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Author: Matt de la Pena

Illustrator/Photographer: Christian Robinson

Publisher and Year: The Penguin Group in 2015

Number of pages: 29 pgs

Tags: Olivia Simkins, Realistic Fiction, 2-3, 4-5, Culture, Picture Book, Family, Award Book

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Analysis:

This book is about a little boy named CJ who is taking a trip to the soup kitchen with his Nana. Along the way CJ questions his Nana about why they are walking in the rain, why they have to ride the bus and why he does not have an iPod. He learns along the way to enjoy the things he has. This book has won the Coretta Scott King Award and the Newberry Award and is a Caldecott Honor book as well.

This story could serve as a door, and a mirror. The readers can view it as a mirror because they connect to a part in the novel. They might be able to connect about the time they rode on the bus or the time they volunteered at a soup kitchen or some place else. It can also serve as a door to inspire the readers to help at their local soup kitchen or volunteer in their community. I also feel like the illustrator wanted to represent all the different cultures in the story but I found out some underlying ideological features in this book. I feel that there is stereotypes represented when CJ is asking his Nana about not having a car. His friend who has a car is Caucasian and CJ is African American. This could be problematic for some readers because it could make them feel like this book is presenting racist stereotypes.

After analyzing the perceptual features of this book, I have noticed the use of colors. In the beginning of the book CJ talks about walking out of church and how he felt free. The use of colors in this book supports that statement as well. The colors are all very bright, and when looking into what bright color represent, it states that they represent freedom.

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Papá and Me

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Title: Papá and Me

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Author: Arthur Dorros

Illustrator/Photographer: Rudy Gutierrez

Publisher and Year: HarperCollins Publisher and 2008

Number of pages: 24 pgs

Tags: Olivia Simkins, Realistic Fiction, 2-3, Culture, Picture Book, 4-5, Family

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Analysis:

This book is about a little boy, his Papá, and their day that they spend together. They make pancakes, go to the park and visit the little boy’s grandparents. This text can serve as a window or a mirror for the audience. It may serve as a window because it could be a new culture that one may not be familiar with. This book has a lot of Spanish words and phrases that are explained in English as well so the reader, if not familiar with the Spanish language, can follow along. It also has a glossary at the end to help define the unknown terms and has pictures to explain to the audience what a Mariachi band is and what the instruments they use look like. It can also serve as a mirror for an audience of the Hispanic culture. The reader may read this and be able to relate because they speak Spanish or because they are close to their father as well. They may also relate in going to visit their grandparents with their family. I feel that culture is represented well in this book through its use of the Spanish language. It also does an excellent job with its use of colors. The illustrations help to show movement through the lines and vibrant colors. The use of reds, oranges, and yellows show happiness. This book also distorts pictures to have the boy appear to be higher than the father when he talks about being high up in a tree.

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Marc Just Couldn’t Sleep

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Title: Marc Just Couldn’t Sleep

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Author: Gabriela Keselman

Illustrator/Photographer: Noewmí Vilamuza

Publisher and Year: Kane/Miller Book Publishers and 2004

Number of pages: 24 pgs

Tags: Olivia Simkins, Realistic Fiction, 2-3, K-1, Culture, Picture Book, Family

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Analysis:

Marc is a little boy who is scared of everything. In order to go to sleep, he makes sure his mom does everything she can to make sure nothing will be able to scare him anymore so he can fall asleep. Finally, his mom can do nothing more than sit on his bed with him and he finally falls asleep. This book could function as a mirror for the intended audience. I feel that it is a window because the audience reading this may be a parent or child that have experienced being afraid or not being able to fall asleep because something scared them. This book can also relate to parents because parents make a lot of scarifies for their children, even if it means going out of their way to make sure their child is not afraid of anything. The readers could relate in many ways. They could relate to it because their guardian or mom used to tuck them into bed or comfort them when they were scared. The audience can apply their schema and relate to it in some way. This book depicts an African American boy and his mother whose family culture is seen through out the different images in the book. Although, without the illustrations we would not be able to decided on our own what race or culture the main characters are. The illustrations add to the text giving us a visual as to what the characters and setting look like. It also helps to define unknown terms for readers and fill in the gaps so the audience can visually see what is happening in the story.

The story shows Marc rather small in the beginning of the story and as it goes on, he grows bigger and bigger. This shows that his character is getting stronger and stronger and in the parts where Marc is scared he appears to be small which shows his character as weak and frightened. The story does not have frames until the very end where Marc is shown in a round frame when he finally falls asleep showing that Marc is content and secure. When a picture book has frames in it, the audience is not apart of the story. They are just looking into it. However, this book does not have frames so, us as readers, are apart of the story and experiencing the story as it happens.

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