Three Children's Books

Horton Hears a Who!-Dr. Seuss

Type: Picture book, cartoon drawings with color splashes

Intended for children ages 6-10

                Horton Hears a Who! Is a story about an elephant named Horton who comes across a tiny clover blowing in the wind. He hears voices on the clover screaming for help, so he plucks the clover out of the air and discovers that the people of Whoville live on it. Even though nobody believes Horton, he decides to stick up for the people of Whoville, because a person’s a person, no matter how small.

                I’ve loved this book for a long time; I used to read it in school all the time as a child for silent sustained reading. I think that this story has a really good theme and moral that people come in all different shapes and sizes, and that being a loyal friend is not always the easiest thing to do. I love how the simplicity of the colors used in this book really draws you in towards the important elements- Horton is grey, the Clover is coral, etc. This use of color sort of devalues the setting of the story, because it is not the focus that the author is trying to draw your attention towards. The author is trying to draw your attention to the key players in the story and the key elements, such as the clover.

                This book would fit really well within a classroom and could be used in a multitude of ways. You could use this book as an example of exemplary rhyme scheme or as a moral lesson on the importance of loyalty and friendship when it is being tested. You could even use this book for its pictures and dissect why certain colors were used in certain pictures, and why not one entire page of this book is filled in with color completely. This book really is a multi use book that can be used and adapted to fit within different lessons.

Probuditi- Chris Van Allsburg

Type: Picture Book- sepia artwork

Intended for children ages 6-10

                Probuditi is the story of a little boy who gets to go see a magician and hypnotist on his birthday. When he gets home he decides to hypnotize his little sister. He successfully makes her think she is a dog, but what is going to happen when his mother gets home and has a dog as a daughter?

                I liked this book, but it was definitely not one of my favorite Chris Van Allsburg books. It was not a bad book, but I thought the story was a little bit dull. I did like the ending however. Throughout the whole book you think that his sister was hypnotized and actually believed that she was a dog. However, at the end of the book you come to find out, on the last page nonetheless, that his sister was in fact faking it the entire time.

                I would not have any problems with using this book in the classroom; however I think that this book would be better served as an SSR book for students to read on their own. I could see this book being used in the classroom as an example of an unexpected or twist ending, but that’s about it.  It was not a bad book, it just did not hold my interest as I read it.

My Friend Rabbit- Eric Rohmann

Type: Picture book- hand colored relief prints

Intended for children ages 5-9

                My Friend Rabbit is a really cute book about a little rabbit and his mouse friend. Rabbit always gets into mischief- he tries to fly mouse in a plane but gets it stuck in a tree. However, no matter how much trouble rabbit gets himself into, mouse is there to help him.

                This book was a really adorable story about friendship and always being there for one another. The book consisted of mainly pictures and had very few words, so it’s a really good book to use with younger children. The pictures were also very vibrant and full of color and detail. Even though the book itself did not have much text to it, the detail in the illustrations gave all of the characters a definite personality. Rabbit is a curious little animal who likes to play and as a result sometimes gets himself into a little bit of trouble. Mouse is a more sensible character who also likes to play, but knows how to look out for trouble and avoid it.

 I can defiantly see using this picture book in a classroom setting for both a silent read, and also as a book teaching a lesson about loyalty and friendship- some of the book’s hidden messages.