Picture Book Genre

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Willems, Mo. 2009. NAKED MOLE RAT GETS DRESSED. New York City, NY: Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 142311437X

2. PLOT
This picture book is about a mole rat named Wilbur that, unlike the rest of his clan, enjoys wearing clothes. The other mole rats find this very odd and do not like it one bit. After failing to make him stop this madness with their teasing, they decide to take Wilbur to visit Grand-pah, whom they think is going to set Wilbur straight. Grand-pah surprises all of the mole rats and declares that it is okay for Wilbur, and any other mole rat that cares to, to wear clothes.

3. CRITICAL ANALySIS
This is a simple story that has a great message. The main character, Wilbur, is one that children can connect to and understand the problem that he is facing. Most children have been teased for something and can sympathize with how Wilbur feels.

The illustrations in this book are simple, but they seem to really add to the storyline and the emotions of the story. At one point in the story it says, "Wilbur thought that was a great idea. The other naked mole rats did not." The illustration of the other mole rats picking up Wilbur and carrying him off really adds to how much they did not like him opening a clothing store. In this story, Willems also uses a symbol to show emotion. He uses the squiggly line above their heads to show their frustration instead of using words. The squiggly line goes much further in showing their frustration that words could.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT
BOOKLIST Review: "An ongoing horizontal line lends continuity to most of the pages, occasionally curving to add simple architecture to the scenes.

5. CONNECTIONS
*This would be a great book to pair with a non-fiction book about mole rats. The students would be able to learn true facts about these fascinating characters.
*Show the students the part where he uses the symbol of a squiggly line to show emotion and brainstorm other symbols they could use in their writing to show othe emotions.
*Look at this non-fiction book about mole-rats:
Rake, Jody Sullivan. THE NAKED MOLE-RAT. ISBN 142961739X

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Marcus, Leonard S. 2001. SIDE BY SIDE. New York, NY: Walker & Company. ISBN 0802787789.

2. PLOT
This book features 5 authors and illustrators who have worked together to create picture books. Marcus shows the collaborative efforts for beloved books such as Louis and the Fish, The Glorious Flight, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Sam and the Tigers, and The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses. Marcus shows how each of these teams collaborated together to create their picture book.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In this book you are given a glimpse of what it takes to really make a picture book come to life and end up on the shelves. Each of the five stories showed different ways that authors and illustrators can collaborate. It showed that some teams work together for only a few books, like Yorinks and Egielski, and some work with each other for a life time, like Alice and Martin Provensen. The book also did a great job at showing the stages they take for making the book, which I find to be the most interesting part of the book. It showed how Egielski goes from thumbnail sketches to full sketches to the full colored page.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publishers Weekly Review: "Readers snared by their interest in the teams behind favorites such as the Magic School Bus series and The Stinky Cheese Man will appreciate the insights into the inner workings of bookmaking, and may well end up appreciating the books more for the energy and ingenuity it takes to create them."

School Library Journal Review: "In this fascinating look at the collaborative process involved in creating picture books, Marcus examines how and why five different teams work together."

5. CONNECTIONS
*This would be a great book to use with an author study on one of the authors from this book. The students would get the opportunity to sort of see behind the scenes.

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Juster, Norton. 2005. THE HELLO, GOODBYE WINDOW. New York, NY: Scholastic, INC. ISBN 0439897505.


2. PLOT
This story is told from the perspective of a little girl going to her Nanna and Poppy's house. When she goes to see them, they have a ritual of waving to each other from a special window they call The Hello, Goodbye Window. Together, they play in the kitchen looking out the window and playing different games. At the end of her visit she is happy to go home, but sad to leaver her Nanna and Poppy. As she leaves, she waves goodbye to them from the special
window.


3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The author does a great job at portraying this story from a young child's eyes. It really adds to the simplistic nature of the story. It also helps the reader, most likely a young child, connect to the main character. The plot is also simplistic in nature, but has some deeper ideas that could be talked about, such as the ending notion of being both happy and sad at the same time.

The illustrations in the story are colorful, bright, and childlike. Not only do the words make you feel like this story is coming from a child, so do the illustrations. The pictures give you a warm feeling of love and family and really show the happiness that the main character is feeling while visiting her Nanna and Poppy.


4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Booklist Review: "More intrinsic is Juster's honest portrayal of a child's perceptions (a striped cat in the yard is a tiger) and emotions (being happy and sad at the same time "just happens that way sometimes")."


School Library Journal: "The artwork is at once lively and energetic, without crowding the story or the words on the page; the simple lines and squiggles of color suggest a child's own drawings, but this is the art of a masterful hand."


5. CONNECTIONS
*This book would be a great book to use during writing time and have the students think about a time when they visited someone that is important to them and to write their own story.
*Other books about visiting family to read:
Wild, Margaret. OUR GRANNY. ISBN 0395883954
Rylant, Cynthia. THE RELATIVES CAME. ISBN 0689717385