Wolves

Wolves

by Emily Gravett (2005)

           I'm sure there will be parents and teachers alike complaining about the "graphic" content of this book (Oh my god! A rabbit gets eaten by a wolf!) -- but those types of reviews are completely ignoring that Gravett has created a text to introduce metafiction to children. Of course, the rabbit in the text is reading a book about wolves so it is even to be disputed whether or not the rabbit was eaten in "real life" or consumed by fear from reading about how wolves eat bunnies (the power of fiction -- or nonfiction -- at work!). The book within a book aspect is obvious play on reading and fiction itself, and the types of interpretations revolving around text could be phenomenal. The alternate ending Gravett offers is hilarious -- it's a new friendly scene created from torn pieces of the wolf and rabbit from previous pages in the book. What a clever take on re-reading and changing interpretations.
            Books that play with the idea of metafiction, although not quite so obviously, come to mind and could be constructed as a text set. Wiesner's "The Three Pigs", Willems "We Are In A Book" and others, and of course there are many other picture books that make us reflect on the act of storytelling as we read.

Lost & Found

Lost & Found

by Shaun Tan (2011)

           This is actually a collection of three previously published short works: The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, and The Rabbits (written by John Marsden) -- and it's wonderful to have them bound together with notes by the author at the end of the pieces. The Red Tree is a dark story of all the things that can go wrong for a person, but it is also about the hope that can be found where least expected -- and within oneself. The Rabbits is an intense take on colonial conflicts, representing natives as armadillos and rabbits as invaders of a beautiful land. The repetition in the paintings for this piece present an overwhelming picture of what it is to see land destroyed by industry and invasion. The Lost Thing is probably my favorite story in the collection. The borders and backgrounds of each page are composed of engineering drawings and charts, but the art itself depicts a strange dystopian future where people are too busy to notice strange things going on around them. The societal commentary becomes more obvious in Tan's representation of a newspaper page showing advertisements from different federal departments. Peripheral advertisements show The Federal Department of Economics (slogan "consumere ergo sum") which states that "We understand at the end of the day, all that matters is the balance sheet." The Department of Management has their slogan printed up in the corner of the page: "bureaucritae opacus." This is a multi-faceted story that could be enjoyed by readers of any age group -- whether they notice the difference between adults and children in the story, the futuristic landscape, the political commentary or something else entirely.
           These stories could be used for a number of different discussions about social studies -- but the art is also wonderful inspiration to discuss how style, color, light, and other elements of art can play a critical role in setting mood. Especially for a simple piece of written work like the poem in The Red Tree, it would be interesting to take the words away from the illustrations and read to a class. After they had visualized their own images I could show Tan's illustrations and ask how that changed the experience of reading the text -- and how their interpretations differed from the author's.

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type

by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin (2000)

2001 Caldecott Honor Book

           As an adult reading this I see the complexities of labor disputes and corrupt middle men (or ducks, as the case may be), as well as the power of negotiation. I think kids will take away a less convoluted interpretation, but will surely understand the power of words -- and strikes -- as peaceful modes of protest. The illustrations are hilarious and fit nicely with the story, bright and fun. The animals are surprisingly animal-like, as well, without an unnecessary amount of anthropomorphism to go with their uncanny typing and persuasive abilities.
         I first heard this read to a Kindergarten class as a fun read-along/choral reading piece during read aloud. The kids loved to repeat the clicks, clacks and moos along with the teacher - and loved to laugh at the concept of animals writing for their ability to have electric blankets. There is a reader's theater script available online. I would definitely use this as a read-aloud for younger children. I would love to see the kind of discussions it would bring about.