Realistic Fiction

 

Title: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Author: Judith Viorst

Illustrator: Ray Cruz

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

Copyright date: 1972

Number of pages: 34 pages

Awards: ALA Notable Children’s Book

George G. Stone Center Recognition of Merit

Georgia Children’s Book Award

Reading Rainbow Book

Genre: realistic fiction, children’s fiction

Brief summary: Alexander is not having a great day. He wakes up and everything seems to go wrong. At the end of his rough day, Alexander learns to accept that some days are a mess. All kids experience this type of day and will definitely find comfort in knowing that they are not alone in that!

Cover:

·         Is the cover attractive? Yes. I think it parallels the story well.

Story:

·         Are the stories interesting to children? Yes. Every child has had a bad day and they are going to find comfort in knowing they are not alone in that with this book!

Organization:

·         Do the spacing and placement of the words make the passages easy to read? Yes. The passages are a pleasing length. This is a read that shouldn’t overwhelm.

Characters:

·         Do characters represent people from a variety of cultural groups? Yes. Cultural diversity is apparent in some of the illustrations.

·         Are females as well as males depicted in leadership roles? Yes in a sense. Alexander, though he may not feel like it at some points, is in charge of his life. The teacher, who is female, is the leader of the classroom.

Themes:

·         Does the story offer children a variety of things to think about, to question, and to consider? Yes. Alexander goes through a lot in one day. He experiences a range of emotions, including a bad mood, jealousy, frustration, anger and rage. The most important thing is that he learns to manage each of these emotions through the course of the story. This raises the questions regarding the best way to recognize and handle emotions.

·         Are there lessons to be learned? Yes. The story allows students to ponder about morals and ethical behavior. In addition, students learn about making mistakes and the importance of always learning and growing.

Settings:

·         Do the stories reflect a variety of settings? Yes. Alexander is taken on quite the adventure through the course of his terrible day!

Illustrations:

·         Are diverse populations represented in the illustrations? Yes. Diversity is apparent in some of the illustrations.

·         Are the illustrations large, clear and bright? No. This is an old book, so the illustrations are black and white, with exception of the cover. This doesn’t take away from the quality in the illustrations though because the illustrations do a good job of enhancing the story.

·         Do the illustrations invite the reader to explore the text? Yes. The illustrations, despite lack of color, enhance the story.

·         Do the illustrations explain and enhance the context? Yes. The illustrations do a good job of paralleling the story.

Other Considerations:

·         Will the stories encourage discussions? Yes. Every kid has been in Alexander’s shoes in the sense that they have undoubtedly experienced having a bad day, so the fact that they can easily connect to the story will invite much discussion to occur. There are some important lessons that can be learned from this book, so discussion is surely to happen.

·         Are the stories age appropriate to ensure children can understand what is presented? Yes. As long as students are able to connect to the story, I think this book is a powerful read.

 

Reading level scale

7	highly difficult
6	difficult
5	moderately difficult
4	Challenging
3	above average
2	Average (for 6-9 year old readers)
1	highly readable

classroom application:
Using Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day for a read-aloud will allow the teacher to have a discussion about how everyone has bad days and that we need to learn how to deal with them. With this lesson, students adjust their use of spoken, written and visual language to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes. Have the students write about a time when they had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. What happened? Did the day get better? How did it change? Who helped make it better? Have the students illustrate their terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day with a detailed drawing. The following is an example written by a student:

"Julie wore her pajamas to school because she thought that it was Pajama Day. But it wasn't Pajama Day."
"Max fell off the monkey bars, broke his pencil lead three times and forgot the word monkey when he was reading out loud to the class."

My rating: 4/5. This is a great book that teaches a lesson!

 

 

 

 

Title: Bad Dog, Marley

Author: John Grogan

Illustrator: Richard Cowdrey

Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers

Copyright date: 2007

Number of pages: 40 pages

Awards: 2008 Buckaroo Award- Children’s Winner

2008 Flicker Tale Children’s Book Award- Picture Book Winner

2009 Colorado Children’s Book Award- Picture Book Winner

2009 Golden Archer Award- Primary Nominee

2009 Nevada Young Readers’ Award- Picture Book Nominee

Genre: picture book, realistic fiction

Brief summary: This is a memoir of a family who welcomes the high-energy puppy, Marley, to their family. Through the story, Marley becomes the heart of his family. This is a hit with families and dog lovers!

Cover:

·         Is the cover attractive? Yes. The cover is very lively.

Story:

·         Are the stories interesting to children? Yes. In fact, I think this book will leave children cheering for Marley! It is one of my favorite dog books! I think children will certainly appreciate this book.

Organization:

·         Do the spacing and placement of the words make the passages easy to read? Yes. The passages are easy to read and have wonderful illustrations that supplement the reading.

Characters:

·         Do characters represent people from a variety of cultural groups? No. The family is of European decent and they are the only characters depicted in the book.

·         Are females as well as males depicted in leadership roles? Yes. The whole family takes turns taking care of and dealing with Marley.

Themes:

·         Does the story offer children a variety of things to think about, to question, and to consider? Yes. For example, despite the fact that Marley does many things, bad and good, he surely has some endearing traits. The students could think about what they would do with marley if they had him. They can also ponder on whether or not dogs are truly man’s best friend or if they only serve a practical purpose in our lives.

·         Are there lessons to be learned? Yes. For example, acceptance, seeing the good in everybody despite their difficult ways, responsibilities of having a pet, the hardest parts of having a pet.

Settings:

·         Do the stories reflect a variety of settings? No. This is a series, so this book mainly takes place in their house. The plot describes a variety of places the family goes, but the illustrations mainly depict them in their home.

Illustrations:

·         Are diverse populations represented in the illustrations? No.

·         Are the illustrations large, clear and bright? Cowdrey’s warm illustrations bring the story of this rambunctious dog to life.

·         Do the illustrations invite the reader to explore the text? Yes. The illustrations are spectacular.

·         Do the illustrations explain and enhance the context? Yes. The illustrations directly correlate to and therefore enhance the story.

Other Considerations:

·         Will the stories encourage discussions? Yes. Books about animals are usually always a hit with children. One of the biggest struggles is to get children engaged when reading, but this book captures their attention. Therefore, much discussion can derive simply because they are cooperative and engaged by the story.

·         Are the stories age appropriate to ensure children can understand what is presented? Yes. Many children know of mischievous animals, so they will immediately have a connection and be drawn to the story.

 

Reading level scale

7	highly difficult
6	difficult
5	moderately difficult
4	Challenging
3	above average
2	Average (for 3-8 year olds)
1	highly readable

 

 

classroom application:
Using Bad Dog, Marley!, a print out of the story in book form for the student, and some art supplies (construction paper, colored pencils, etc.) the students will work on imagery. This lesson focuses on imagery using our five senses to help us to figure out what is happening as the story is read. As the teacher reads the story to the students, the pictures wont be shown to the class. The teacher will simply tell the students to listen to the author’s description of the family, the pets, and the difficulties Marley is giving them. When the story is over, ask students how they “see” Marley, what the family looks like, how the house looks after Marley destroyed the sofa, and so on. Then, the teacher will reread the story so the students can use imagery to “see” the story. After the reread, the students, using the print out of the story, will illustrate their book and sketch the different scenes on the appropriate pages. When the students are done sketching their books, the teacher will reread and show the pictures so the students can see what the author envisioned Marley to look like, the family to look like and the scenes of the house as Marely go into mischief. Discussion can derive from this final reading as the students compare their story illustrations to the actual book’s illustrations. The teacher can also ask the students if they have every had a pet that seemed to make bad choices but was kind at heart. For the final assessment, the students’ drawings will be checked to ensure that they were listening to the story and that their visions of Marley and family were in line with the descriptions given by the story.

 

My rating: 4/5: This is a great book! Surely to please all those who read it!