Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Amulet Books, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8109-9313-6

Plot

Greg Heffley is given a journal by his mother. Emphatically proclaiming that it is not a diary, Greg records the events of his year in middle school. He writes and draws about his family, his friends, his school days, and the bullies he tries to avoid. He worries about who he will sit by in class. He is mystified by girls. Greg has always tried to be friends with the girls, but now they only seem to like Bryce Anderson, and he never really liked girls until now. Greg's friend Rowley is immature for middle school. He is still into knock-knock jokes and elementary school stuff, but Greg likes him anyway. Another neighbor boy, Fregley, is just scary in a weird and clueless way. Greg avoids him, but he keeps popping into Greg's life. Greg spends a lot of time trying to play video games while his dad tells him to go do something else. He is cast as a tree in the school play, The Wizard of Oz. Greg shuts down the play when he throws an apple at Dorothy and all the other trees join in. It all sounds like the kind of middle school life many kids dread and love at the same time.

Critical Evaluation

Greg is often clueless about the effect he has on the people around him. He doesn't worry about breaking Dorothy's glasses with an apple. He just keeps going, day after day, and maybe that is what life feels like for middle school kids. It helps that Greg creates silly situations all the time. When Rowley gives Greg a Big Wheel for Christmas, the boys have fun by throwing a football at each other as they take turn riding. Whoever knocks the other boy off the Big Wheel wins. This is the kind of thing many kids would do if they had the time and the Big Wheel.

Annotations

Greg Heffley survives day after day of annoying family members, jerks at school, and goofy friends. He captures the funny side of life in his musings and funny drawings.

Author

Jeff Kinney began the Wimpy Kid stories as a series of comics on FunBrain.

Genre

Fiction – middle school life

Curriculum Ties

Language arts – journal writing

Visual arts – comic book art

Booktalk Ideas

Talk to the audience about keeping a journal or diary.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Grade 4 - 6 (age 9 - 12).

Challenge Issues and Defense

Greg's attitude and outlook on life can be sarcastic and negative at time. The things he does ought to be an example of what NOT to do for young readers.

Why is it here?

My son is in fifth grade. He won't go to school without one of the Wimpy Kid books in his backpack. He has copies of all five titles (some in hardcover and paperback) plus all of the do-it-yourself books.

My mommy is in America and she met Buffalo Bill

Regnaud, Jean & Bravo, Emile (Illustrator). My mommy is in America and she met Buffalo Bill. Ponent Mon s.l., 2007. ISBN 978-84-96427-85-3

Plot

Jean is entering the first grade at a new school. He is very nervous when his new teacher asks him to tell the class about himself and his family. He does not know what to say about his mother. He has not seen her for a long time. He blurts out that she is a secretary. He is petrified with anxiety. Jean goes home from school. He introduces Yvette, his nanny, and his little brother, Paul, who goes to Kindergarten at another school. His father returns home late from work as a harried factory manager. The group discusses Jean's first day of school. Jean looks thoughtful. Yvette asks him if he wants to say something. He says, "No," as he wonders, "Where's my mommy?" He plays with his neighbor, Michele Meunier, who is two years older than Jean. She will only play with him when she is bored. One day she tells Jean she has a big secret to tell him. She has a postcard sent to Jean by his mother. She reads it to him after he promises not to tell anyone about it. Jean goes to play with Alain, a friend from school, at his house. Jean is intrigued by Alain's pretty mother and his father. He has a big, black beard and sits in a wheelchair. Alain tells Jean he is adopted and asks him about his own mother. Jean says he can't remember her anymore. Jean visits his paternal grandparents on school holiday, survives the difficulties of first grade, visits elderly neighbors, enjoys a visit from his maternal grandmother, and meets the school psychologist. Throughout these adventures, his uncertainty about his mother hovers over him. More postcards mysteriously fall into Michele's hands. At Christmas, Jean and Paul manage to take a picture of Father Christmas' foot next to their Christmas tree. Jean shows Michele the photo. Michele and Jean fight when she tells him there is no Father Christmas. Then she tells him that she has written the postcards because his mother is dead. Jean is heartbroken. He tells himself that his mommy is like Father Christmas. He is too old to believe in her any longer. When Jean returns to school after the winter break, he has a new teacher and new, less unhappy outlook on life

Critical Evaluation

I feel this story is simple and sweet without overt sentimentality. Jean's story tells the reader about the way children, meaning all of us, experience the world, family, friendship, love, secrets, cruelty, and loss. The story is told gently, through a series of vignettes that are typical of a child's life. Through these scenes, the story shows the reader how John finds his way from personal crisis to a centered life and clearer sense of self. The clean style of the illustrations and the simple storytelling will appeal to tweens and teens.

Annotations

First-grader Jean begins the new school year with the question of his mother's whereabouts hanging over him. He is intrigued when his neighbor, Michele, begins to share with him postcards she has received from his missing mother. As he learns the truth about his mother, he moves from confusion and sadness to a more clear understanding of his life and contentment.

Author and Illustrator

Jean Regnaud drew from his childhood experience of losing his mother in writing this story. He didn't know anything about his own mother, so he invented her. Emile Bravo has illustrated other French language comic series. Among his other works are the series Aleksis Strogonov, also in collaboration with Regnaud, and the Jules series, which has been described as "Tin Tin for the 21^st Century."

Genre

Fiction – Realism and humor

Curriculum Ties

English Language Arts – make and confirm predictions about the story using personal knowledge and the ideas presented in the text, illustrations, and foreshadowing clues.

Booktalk Ideas

Introduce Jean, his school situation, and his family to the audience by showing illustrations from the book. Tell the beginning of the story in his voice. Ask the audience what they think might have happened to Jean's mother.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Grade 3 (age 8) and up will find this book appealing, but the story's underlying themes of death and reconciliation are better suited to Grade 5 (age 10) and up.

Challenge Issues and Defense

Absent parent, death, adoption, racism, Father Christmas (Santa Claus).

Younger children who select this book may be surprised, puzzled, or even frightened by some of what they read, especially the idea of a missing parent. It would be appropriate to recommend that readers discuss these issues with a parent or other trusted adult.

Why is it here?

I walked through my public library and saw this book on display with other graphic novels. The title and the cover drew me in. When I flipped it open I was instantly captivated by the style of the illustrations and the tone of the text. I am a fan of other French language comic series such as Tin Tin and Asterix, so this book was an easy choice for me.

Silk Tapestry and Other Chinese Folktales

Atangan, Patrick. Silk Tapestry and Other Chinese Folktales. NBM Publishing Inc., 2004. ISBN 1-56163-403-4

Plot

This book contains two illustrated tales drawn from Chinese folkloric tradition.

In the first story, the world begins as an egg with a formless surface. Pan-gu, the first man, emerges and separates the clouds from the sea. He sculpts a mountain. A phoenix and a sea turtle help him. He waits for others like him to arrive.

In the second story, an old woman dreams of life as a grand lady in a palace. She awakes and with her daughter goes to the fields to gather food. Her brothers meet her there and try to take a piece of silk she carries. She tells them it was a gift to her from the river god, the dragon-spirit of the Yangtse, which she helped when she bandaged its belly wound. The dragon-spirit tells her that the silk will give her good dreams. And if she sews her dream into the cloth, it will come true. With the help of her daughter and a songbird, the old woman works hard to make her dream come true.

In the final story, a boy named Lap-Xuong loves two things: painting and eating pork sausages. His paintings were so great that they came to life. He is abducted by a queen who wants to use Lap-Xuong's paintings to increase her wealth. He sees she is an unhappy person, so he paints a peach for her. She impatiently takes his paintbrush away and gives it to her servant. It will not paint for him or for any of her scholars. The queen sends the boy to jail where he paints a beautiful paradise. She refuses to enter until he paints a golden throne for her.

Critical Evaluation

The stories told in this volume are illustrated with comic book-style characters. There are many iconic Chinese images such as dragons, mountain scenes, and stylized depictions of wind and water. But the people are cartoonish. They remind me more of comic book characters than than the stylized Japanese characters in The Yellow Jar. Comic book touches like a "whoomp!" with stars and moons to show action feel out of place. The stories are interesting, but the illustrations do not quite fit the subject matter.

Annotations

Three traditional folktales, The Story of Pan-Gu, The Silk Tapestry, and Sausage-Boy and His Magic Brush are told through illustrations and simple language which evoke past times in China.

Author

Patrick Atangan comes from a family of accountants but has known since he was a child that he would always be involved in art.

Genre

Fiction – folk tales

Curriculum Ties

Language Arts – folk tales

Social Sciences – Chinese folk tales and history

Booktalk Ideas

Sausage-Boy and His Magic Brush is short enough to use as a read aloud. This could be introduced with or followed by a display of other versions of the magic brush tale from China such as Ma-Lien and His Magic Brush.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Grade 4 and up (age 9 and up).

Challenge Issues and Defense

None.

Why is it here?

I came across Patrick Atangan's interview at the For Art's Sake website and wanted to read his books.

The Lost Warrior

Hunter, Erin. The Lost Warrior. HarperCollins Children's Books, 2007. ISBN 978-0-06-124020-1

Plot

This graphic novel edition of Graystripe's story is a good introduction to the Warriors series. Graystripe is a wild cat, member of Thunderclan. He returns to his home forest to find that it has been cut down by twolegs. The twolegs are capturing all the wild cats. Graystripe and his friends free the captured cats from cages in a van. But as the van drives away, the doors slam shut and Graystripe is caught. He is taken into a twolegs family's home. In his life as a kittypet, he finds regular meals, safety, and warmth appealing. But he fears he is becoming soft, and so he tries to run away. He does not get far before he encounters a neighbor cat. He fights and loses. He meets another neighbor cat, Millie. She realizes Graystripe is lost, so she takes him to his home. He again resolves to run away and find Thunderclan. He leaves and wanders for ten days. Soon he faints from hunger and thirst. Millie finds him and revives him. She agrees to go with him to find his clan.

Critical Evaluation

The graphic novel format of this book makes the story appealing to new and returning readers of this series. The story is told with little dialog. There is exciting action in the battles Graystripe fights. Several dream sequences acquaint readers with Graystripe's history. These elements make the story fun to read and will encourage children to seek out other books in the series.

Annotations

Graystripe returns to his home forest to find it destroyed. He is captured by twolegs and made to live as a kittypet. After a short time he fears he is becoming soft and decides to leave his new home. He wants to find his clan and return to his warrior life.

Author

Erin Hunter is the author of the Warriors series and the Seekers series. Her books portray animals in ways that show bravery, friendship, and love.

Genre

Fiction – fantasy, animals.

Curriculum Ties

Language arts

Booktalk Ideas

There is little dialog in this book, so it would be quick to read and show the first few pages of the book to a group. Then I would display chapter books and other graphic novels from the Warriors series.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Grade 4 – 6 (age 9 - 12).

Challenge Issues and Defense

There are battle scenes. The violence is portrayed through stylized action between cats.

Why is it here?

My daughter loves this series.

The Yellow Jar

Atangan, Patrick. The Yellow Jar. NBM Publishing Inc., 2002. ISBN 1-56163-331-3

Plot

This book contains two illustrated tales from Japanese folkloric tradition.

In the first story, a fisherman named Nikotuchi encounters a large, yellow jar floating in the ocean. Inside the jar sleeps a beautiful young woman in a silken yellow dress. He hides the jar in the earth beneath a willow tree. When the woman awakens, she reveals that she is O Haru San, daughter of the great sea king. She is on a quest to find a husband. She asks for her jar. Nikotuchi lies and tells her the jar was lost at sea. He asks her to marry him, and she agrees on the condition that he will always tell her the truth. Eventually she finds her jar buried in the garden. She cries a river of tears and leaves upon it, riding in her yellow jar. Nikotuchi is heartbroken. He sets out on a quest to find her.

In the story of a monk named Issa, his beautiful garden is invaded by two weeds that look like lovely maidens. First he ignores them, then he is attentive to them, but still they will not leave. He is soon surprised to see the weeds bloom into a pair of beautiful chrysanthemums, one white and one yellow. The people who come to see the flowers favor the yellow chrysanthemum, so the monk separates them. He protects and elevates the yellow flower but ignores and neglects the white. It seems as though the forgotten white flower will be lost in the winter snow until a nobleman comes in search of something beautiful to adopt for his family's crest.

Critical Evaluation

The comic book format and "world of floating pictures" illustration style work together to tell these stories well. The illustrations vividly recall stylized woodblock prints from Japan. The characters and their words are full of emotion. When Nikotuchi realizes he is alone, standing in his garden before a puddle of O Haru San's tears, his sadness and heartbreak are clear.

Annotations

Two traditional Japanese folktales, The Yellow Jar and Two Chrysanthemum Maidens are told through illustrations and simple language which evoke past times.

Author

Patrick Atangan comes from a family of accountants but has known since he was a child that he would always be involved in art.

Genre

Fiction – folk tales

Curriculum Ties

Lanuage Arts – folk tales

Social Sciences – Japanese art and history

Booktalk Ideas

Two Chrysanthemum Maidens is short enough to use as a read aloud. This could be introduced with or followed by a display of Edo period art prints from a collection in book form.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Grade 4 and up (age 9 and up).

Challenge Issues and Defense

None.

Why is it here?

I came across Patrick Atangan's interview at the For Art's Sake website and wanted to read his books.

Warriors: The Rise of Scourge

Hunter, Erin. Warriors: The Rise of Scourge. HarperCollins Children's Books, 2008. ISBN 978-0-06-147867-3

Plot

This graphic novel edition of Scourge's backstory is an important part of the Warriors series. Scourge begins his life as a kitten named Tiny. He feels picked on by his siblings, Socks and Ruby. He runs away from home when he fears he is unwanted by the housefolk. He enters the forest and meets Thistleclaw, Tigerpaw, and Bluefur, members of the Thunderclan. They chase him away, and he is afraid to go home. He goes to the twolegplace, or city. To look tough, he sticks a dog tooth he found into his collar. He names himself "Scourge." He fights another dog and wins. Now the other cats fear him. When his littermates are abandoned by their housefolk and ask Scourge for help, he does not listen. He meets Tigerstar, leader of Shadowclan, and becomes a wild cat of the forest.

Critical Evaluation

The graphic novel format of this book makes the story appealing to new and returning readers of this series. The story is told with little dialog. The illustrations clearly show how Scourge changes from the kitten named Tiny to a wild adult cat. There is exciting action in the battles Scourge fights. These elements make the story fun to read and will encourage children to seek out other books in the series.

Annotations

A kitten named Tiny is bullied by his siblings. He runs away from home and faces danger. He learns to fight and becomes a warrior.

Author

Erin Hunter is the author of the Warriors series and the Seekers series. Her books portray animals in ways that show bravery, friendship, and love.

Genre

Fiction – fantasy, animals.

Curriculum Ties

Language arts

Booktalk Ideas

There is little dialog in this book, so it would be quick to read and show the first few pages of the book to a group. Then I would display chapter books and other graphic novels from the Warriors series.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Grade 4 – 6 (age 9 - 12).

Challenge Issues and Defense

There are battle scenes. The violence is portrayed through stylized action between cats.

Why is it here?

My daughter loves this series.