Focus Question

How does knowing about literary elements impact understanding a story?

There are many ways in which literary elements greatly affect a story. Some literary elements that affect a story are perspective, time, character, and plot. Not only do they affect them but the student understanding each of these affects how they view a story. This is because they will be able to decide what each element means or adds to the story. Perspective is important because it is good to know and understand what perspective a story is from and how it would differ had it been written from a different view. Perspective and character both add to the story because they can personify a character and help you to really connect with the book. Time is another element that can affect a story because time can be in order or flashback, each idea of time adds to the story line of the book. The time of a book is important because the author can tell information through time and it can give background information to a story.

Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business

Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business is written by Barbara Park and illustrated by Denise Brunkus

Children's Novel

2nd - 4th Grade

3.5 out of 5

Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business is about a little girl, Junie B. Jones, and her life. This book is in a series. In this book her mother has a baby, leaving her with a baby brother. Through a misunderstanding she thinks that her little brother is a monkey and tells her class during show and tell, which causes excitement and confusion at school.

This book is a very good book for little girls. I think that it was funny and had a good plot. I liked how the book is written from a young girl's perspective, Junie B. Jones, making it more fun to read and making her come to life. This also added to the energy of the book because not everything was correct grammar but it made it more realistic, however, this could be confusing for young students because they have been told different ways to write and read. It was a very easy read. It was not too long and the font was bigger. There was also pictures every couple pages keeping the book from dragging on. With Junie B. herself telling the story it is easy for us to feel and understand her emotions or jealousy, fear, and misunderstanding. Once thing that I did not like about this book is that Junie B. Jones has such an attitude. She interrupts her parents and teachers without being told that she is being disrespectful.


I do not think that Junie B. Jones is a book that would be good for use in classroom curriculum but I think that it is an appropriate book to have in the classroom library or school library because it is easy and fun to read. This is good because students will read best when it is something that they enjoy. I got to read part of this book with a 2nd grade student and she loves this series. She thought that it was really funny. I really liked listening to her read it because she was able to show such enthusiasm with the voices. She was also able to relate because she has a younger sister. Throughout reading we were able to talk about her little sister and what it was like when she joined their family.

Llama Llama Misses Mama

Llama Llama Misses Mama is written and illustrated by Anna Dewdney.

Picture Book

K - 2nd Grade

4 out of 5

Llama Llama Misses Mama is about a little llama who goes to his first day of school and realizes that he really misses his mama. It isn't until he finds out that his mom will come back at the end of the day to pick him up that he begins to have fun and then when his mama finally comes to get him he realizes how much he loves her.
I think that this book is absolutely adorable. Everything from the pictures to the story make a great book. This book was really easy to read because of the rhyming and you could read it with rhythm. The rhymes would also make it easier for children to read. I really liked the pictures in this book because they were full pages and there was a full picture page before and after the story. The pictures were adorable and you could really feel Llama's emotion through them when he was sad at school. They were bright and the animals were all so cute. I feel like many people can relate to this story because we've all been in a new experience where we may have felt alone.
I think that Llama Llama Misses Mama could be used in a kindergarten classroom but not really in any older classrooms. I think this because it is more aimed at children just starting school. I think that it would be great to use in the very beginning of the school year or even the first day of school to make scared children, just like Llama, feel more comfortable in the classroom. I know when I am a mom I will read this book to my children when they are getting ready to go to school.

The Stinky Cheese Man

The Stinky Cheese Man is written by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith.

Picture Book/Fairy Tale

2nd - 4th Grade

4 out of 5

This book is a spoof of many well-known fairy tales, which the book calls "Fairly Stupid Tales".
I really liked this book as an adult and I also liked it when I was a child. I think that it is really funny to compare the chapters in the book to the fairy tales they are based on. My favorite story in the book is The Really Ugly Duckling. It is based off of the Ugly Duckling but instead of the duckling turning beautiful in the end, the duckling in this story just turns into a really ugly duck. Another thing I loved about this book is the pictures. They are really funny and different than most books you see. They are dark and intricate. The Stinky Cheese Man won the Caldecott Honor for the illustrations.


The Stinky Cheese Man can be a great book when used in the classroom or just to have in the classroom library. I was able to read this book to a student and she loved it. She thought it was hilarious and she also loved the illustrations. She wanted to stop after reading each page to examine the pictures. I thought of many activities you could do involving this book. The activity I did with the child I read it to was to read the book and then try and write our own funny fairy tales based off of other famous fairy tales we already knew. She really enjoyed this activity but it was hard to get her to use her imagination. Another activity I thought about doing with this book is to read the book and then to create our own fairy tale character and make up a story about the character.

Animals should definitely not wear clothing.

Animals should definitely not wear clothing is written by Judi Barrett and drawn by Ron Barrett
Picture Book
1st - 3rd Grade
3 out of 5
This book gives reasons why animals should not wear clothing. It goes through different animals and the reasons why they should not wear clothing.
I think that the book, Animals should definitely not wearing clothing, is a really cute book. It made me think of reasons why animals should not wear clothing.I thought that it was funny. For example, one of the pages, my favorite pages says, "because opossums might wear it upside down by mistake", which I thought was funny; the drawing also was funny. The illustrations were drawings and they were simple but were good at showing the story. The pictures did not take up the entire page but did not need to because they were funny and made it easy to see why the animals they talked about should not wear clothing. The pictures also told the story; I could have looked at the pictures and understood the story. The words were big and inviting. The words also made it easy to read.
This book could be very fun to do a mini lesson on with students. You could have students read the book and once they were done make their own page to publish into a class book. The page would have text and a drawing of animal and explain why this animal should not wear clothing.

"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth

"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth is written and illustrated by Eric Carle.
1st - 2nd Grade
Picture Book
1 out of 5
This book is about a sloth who is judged for being lazy. The sloth explains why he enjoys his life.
I did not like "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth because I felt that it was really boring and really repetitive. Almost every page says the same thing but a different activity that the sloth does. The pages do not say anything exciting and it isn't until the very end that the sloth finally speaks up and tells all the animals in the jungle why he does not care that he is lazy and enjoys that he is lazy because he just does everything with relaxation. I just did not enjoy this book and it was hard to get through for me. In the beginning of the book there is a forward written by Jane Goodall about the sloth. I think that this part was interesting because it tells the reader about the animal and about how it is becoming extinct and hopefully this forward will help readers becoming aware of the amazing animals in the world. The illustrations in this book are like most all books that Eric Carle illustrate; they are painted tissue-paper collages. I love the pictures in this book because they are bright and beautiful.
I do not think that this book would have a good place in the classroom. This is because I do not think that the students would find this book at all entertaining. One fun activity you could do in the classroom involving this book is actually involving the forward; you could have the students research sloths and think of ways to raise money to donate for preservation of sloths and of the rain forests.

Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct

Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct was written and illustrated by Mo Willems.
Picture Book
1st - 2nd Grade
4 out of 5
This book is about a dinosaur, Edwina, who did not know that she was extinct. Everyone in town loved Edwina, she helped them whenever needed and also liked to make chocolate chip cookies for everyone. A little boy in town, Reginald wanted Edwina and everyone else to know that she is extinct so he tries to do whatever to convince the town. After several attempts no one, including Edwina, listens or cares.

I really liked the book, Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct. I think that it was really funny not only for kids but I also thought that it was funny. It was funny because the dinosaur walked around with the town's people like nothing was wrong. She also was funny because she carried a purse, had her claws painted pink, and wore a necklace and hat. I thought the illustrations were good because they were different than most books. They were different because some pages would be 1 big picture full of color and the some would be a couple separate pictures and paragraphs. I thought that it was very to read and could be read with fun expressions. The plot had good flow and was a good story. The story at times left you hanging until you flipped the page. One part where it does this is when Reginald has just told Edwina that she was extinct and the page says, "There was no doubt about it in Edwina's mind: she knew she was extinct" and the illustrations shows her being very upset, but on the next page it says, "She just didn't care."
I think that there this book could be used in the classroom as a mini lesson in several ways. One way that I was able to actually do with a student was to read the book and on a page that had a sense of suspense slam the book shut and then we wrote and drew an ending to the book. The page that I think it is good to stop on is when Reginald is sad because no one was listening to him and a voice from behind him says, "I'll listen to you". The child that I read this book with really liked the book. She loved the pictures which at times made us get off track but overall the activity went really well. Another activity you could do with a student is to have them write and draw what dinosaurs would be like if they were not extinct or to write about what extinct means. You could also teach the class about extinct animals and why they can't exist today.

Paul Fleischman

-Was born in 1952.

-Grew up in Santa Monica, California.

-Son on Sid Fleischman, who is also an author and who won a Newbery for The Whipping Boy in 1987.

-Did not picture himself as becoming an author when he grew up.

-Spent most of his time outside and not inside reading.

-His family owned at home printing press and Paul spent a lot of his time making stationary, business cards, etc. 

-Graduated from University of New Mexico.

Paul Fleischman is an author for children and young adults. Fleischman said that he is, “a maker at hearts”. By saying this he means that he writes about the most unthought about events and items. He writes about everything from historical events to objects that he has collected over time. Fleischman says that his writing is like writing music to him; he pays careful attention to the rhythm in words. Fleishman has won a Newbery Honor, for Joyful Noises: Poems for Two Voices.

I think that it is really interesting that Paul Fleischman did not originally want to be an author like his father but then ended up becoming once also. I like how he says that he tries to write his stories like making music because it shows me that he really cherishes his writing. I also like this because I read parts of his books and I can notice this rhythm that he describes.

Josefina Learns A Lesson

Josefina Learns A Lesson is written by Valerie Tripp and illustrated by Jean-Paul Tibbles.
Children's novel
2nd-5th grade
3 out of 5
Josefina Learns A Lesson is a book from The American Girls Collection. It is about a young girl, Josefina, who lives alone with her sisters after her mother has passed away. Her Aunt Dolores comes to live on their ranch. Soon after she comes, the families sheep are wiped out from a flash flood. To help the family survive after their loss Aunt Dolores has the idea to open a sewing business. The girls begin to worry they may forget their mother with all of the changes being made by Aunt Dolores but when she teaches them to read and write they are able to remember her through keeping a diary.
I liked This children's novel because it was very different then normal children's books. It had many words that were in Spanish so young children can also begin to learn a new language. I also liked it because it has a section at the end called "A Peek Into The Past", which actually shows real pictures and tells about what life was like in the time the book took place. The book has pictures throughout it which break up the reading so that the reader has something else to look at. There is also a section of pictures in the beginning that shows Josefina's family and friends so that the reader can look at this guide if they are confused. The illustrations in the book really add to the plot because they show what living in New Mexico looked like. You can see the style of clothing, the bright colors used, and the living situation.
I got the chance to read a portion of this book to 2nd grader; I think that Josefina Learns A Lesson may have been to advanced for her reading level. I say this because she did not seem interested in the story and she was not able to understand the plot. Although there is a Spanish dictionary for the Spanish words throughout the book, it was still hard for her to remember the words and their pronunciations. This book could possibly be used as a trade book when learning about life in the past. I do not think that it would be good book to read to an entire class because it is more aimed for girls because it is an American Girls Doll book.

The Flea's Sneeze

The Flea's Sneeze is written by Lynn Downey and illustrated by Karla Firehammer.
Picture book
1st - 2nd Grade
2 out of 5
The Flea's Sneeze is about a flea who has a cold and when he sneezes very loudly he scares all the other animals living in the barn.
I did not like The Flea's Sneeze. I think that the plot of the book really had nothing exciting happen. The entire story built up to a sneeze that woke up the other animals but that was it. I think that it is very repetitive; almost every page had the same rhyme about the other animals in the barn. Some of the animals, including the flea, had lines of dialogue; I felt that the dialogue was very hard to read because the author tried to make them talk like they were sick. Although, I did not like the story, I did think that illustrations were cute because they were made to look nonrealistic. The illustrations are acrylics on Strathmore board. I also liked the illustrations because some pages were full drawings and every other page was just a little picture with text.
I really do not think that there is a good lesson that you could use to go along with this book in a classroom. I think that the only real lesson you could use to go with The Flea's Sneeze is to teach rhyming words or poetry because most of the book uses rhyming words.

Raf

Raf is written by Anke de Vries and Charlotte Dematons and is illustrated by Charlotte Dematons.
Picture book
1st - 3rd Grade
3.5 out of 5
Raf is about a little boy, Ben, and his stuffed giraffe, Raf. Raf goes missing and begins to send Ben postcards about where he is and of his adventures. Raf meets many new friends and in the end Ben is finally reunited with Raf on his birthday.
I think Raf is really good book. I thought that it was funny to hear about all of Raf's adventures. I really liked the illustrations in this book. Every picture showed where Raf was he was in and what he was doing. My favorite page was when Raf was with the flamingos; I thought it was funny that he said, "P.S. Help! They are pooping on my nose." I also like this page because it did not actually show the flamingos or tell you but by what little you see of them and of the description Raf gives you can figure out that they are what he is talking about.
You could use this in a classroom and I think that the kids would really enjoy it. A great activity I could do is read the book aloud and then have students make their own postcards. The postcards would be about a place they want to go, have gone, or anywhere they choose. They could also draw a picture on their postcards. Another activity you could have students do is to have them write a story about their favorite stuffed animal.

Why Butterflies go by on Silent Wings

Why Butterflies go by on Silent Wings is written by Marguerite W. Davol and illustrated by Robert Roth.
Picture book
2nd - 4th Grade
3 out of 5
This book is about the world long ago and the animals that lived in it. The world was very noisy because of all the noisy animals. The noisiest of them all was the butterflies because they only thought about themselves. Eventually they were changed to beautiful, quiet butterflies after a storm.
I think Why Butterflies go by on Silent Wings is a very good book because it has a underlying moral to the story. This moral is something all children should be taught. It is that to be truly beautiful and magnificent you should not envy, boast, or be conceded. This book shows that these traits are not good traits through the pictures, not directly in the writing. The butterflies are brown when they show these traits but after the storm and they rid themselves of these traits they become beautiful, bright butterflies. The pictures in this book contribute to the story because they are busy and make you see how noisy it actually was. The illustrations are watercolor. I also thought the dialogue contributed greatly to the story especially the dialogues of the butterflies because without the author directly saying they are conceded, the reader can still understand that they are.
Using this book in the classroom would work well because it is important for students to learn the moral of the story. I think that it would be fun for students to paint watercolor butterflies when they were not noisy and then when they turn beautiful.

Frog in the Kitchen Sink

Frog in the Kitchen Sink is written by Jim Post and illustrated by Daniel Vasconcelios.
Picture book
K - 3rd Grade
2 out of 5
Frog in the Kitchen Sink tells about all the places you should not put a frog and what will happen if you do put the frog in these places.
I did not like this book because I felt like it was too repetitive. Every page was a rhyme but it was hard to pick up on the rhythm in which you were supposed to read it in. I felt like the ending had nothing to do with the rest of the story; it ends with a little girl kissing the frog and turning into a frog. I also did not understand the point of the book; there is no plot, no climax, or resolution. The book has very funny illustrations that kids may like. The illustrations are cartoons. The book has 2 huge eyeballs that move around and every picture incorporates these eyes into them. I think that these eyeballs are cute but may be distracting to young readers.
I do not think this book would have any good use in the classroom. There is nothing to be learned from this book so it should only be read for fun. I read this book to my nephew and he was not very interested in it at all. I even tried to be show extreme, over the top, expression to get him to enjoy it, but it did not work. If I were to design an activity to go along with this book, the only thing I could think to do is have students write their own page using the rhyme on all the pages and to draw a picture of where they should never put a frog.

Warthogs Paint

Warthogs Paint is written by Pamela Duncan Edwards and illustrated by Henry Cole.
Picture book
1st/2nd Grade
3.5 out of 5
Warthogs Paint is about some warthogs who are stuck inside on a rainy day. To keep themselves from being bored they paint their kitchen. This task ends up turning into a mess causing them to learn about mixing colors.
I thought this book was a good children's book. I liked that there was not too much lengthy text on each page, so that children will not get bored when reading this book or having it read to them. This book was also good for children because every page rhymed, this made it fun to read aloud because you will be able to read it with a rhythm. Warthogs Paint was easy to connect to as a reader because everyone will or has learned about the primary colors and about how fun they can be mix and make new colors. Also because every kid would love to be able to paint their kitchen and make a mess. The book was also very cute and would be funny for children to read because the warthogs are spilling paint left and right. I thought that the illustrations in the story were very cute because they were cartoons. The pictures also told the story; you could have just looked at the pictures and got the main point of the story. They were made by pen, colored pencils, and watercolor paint. I also liked that the words that were colors such as blue, was actually written in blue kids can match the words with the colors.
The Warthogs Paint could very easily be used when teaching young children about primary colors. The back of the book has a color guide which would be a good worksheet to give to my students so they could refer back to. An activity I could do with my students is allow them to experiment with the three primary colors, using paint or frosting with food coloring. you could allow them to figure out what colors they can make with just these three colors. After they play around I will teach them about the secondary colors.