Picturebook Literacy Analysis

Due: Week 5, 9-22-16

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Define/describe Picturebooks: Picturebooks are books that have illustrations that go along
with the story. They are mostly geared for children. Pictures can be made from a wide variety
of mediums, such as paintings, drawings, and photographs. The illustrations are just as
important as the text is. There are usually illustrations on every page or every other page.
These illustrations help children understand the story much easier.
Describe each genre below using a picturebook format, list two books for each that you
have read and analyzed according to Hucks Guidelines on pg 82:
1) Fiction/Fantasy picturebooks: Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak, 1963.
The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss, 1957.
2) Multicultural picturebooks: Uncle Peters Amazing Chinese Wedding, Lenore Look,
2006. Each Kindness, Jacqueline Woodson, 2012.
3) Contemporary Realistic Fiction picturebooks: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst, 1987. No, David!, David Shannon, 1998.
4) Nonfiction/Informational picturebooks: Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of
the Puppeteer of Macys Parade, Melissa Sweet, 2011. Martins Big Words: The Life of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Doreen Rappaport, 2001.
Teaching with Picturebooks: (write a paragraph)
Picturebooks are great for children in elementary schools because it is easier for them to
follow a story if it has illustrations. It is important for them to look at and absorb the pictures
in the picturebook so they can get a good idea of what is happening in the story. Picturebooks
help to create images in their heads. They can actually visually see the story as well as read it
or hear it, in the case of a read aloud. Picturebooks are great for read alouds, especially for
primary grades where they are just beginning to learn how to comprehend a story.

Picturebook Analysis
Name of book, author (include first and last name of author), and year published
Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak, 1963.
Name genre using a picturebook format: Fantasy Picturebook
Age range book is intended: 3-5
Brief description or synopsis of book: (write a paragraph)
Max makes mischief in his house, and his mother called him a wild thing. He is sent to bed
without his supper. When he gets into his room, his room transforms into a forest. He sets sail
on the ocean to a land where the wild things are. Max sees them, tames them with a magic
spell, and becomes their king. After much fun being their king, he misses being loved at home.
He sets sail for home and sees his supper waiting in his room for him.

Book awards received, if any: Caldecott Medal (1964), Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, Indies
Choice Book Award for Picture Book Hall of Fame (2009).
Discuss how the books features could engage readers to promote literacy growth: (write
a paragraph)
This picturebook has very plain and bold text. The pictures are also very unique and extremely
engaging. It contains words that children may have not heard before, but will be able to
understand based on the context of the word in the story. I think just the illustrations alone will
engage the reader, which will promote literacy growth. The illustrations are just so detailed
and unique, every reader will love to look at them. I think just the story in itself inspires
children to be imaginative and creative. This is the kind of story that takes you to another
world, and it is like you dont want to leave. This type of book will help children to develop a
love for reading.

Discuss format and page layout: (write a paragraph)

The size of the book is very fitting for children and also read alouds. The cover of this book
gives you a feel for what the story is going to be about. You can tell that the illustrations are
going to be great, and you can also tell that there are creatures called wild things, and that we
are going to experience where they are. I was a tad skeptical about the picture to font ratio,
because the pictures are extremely large and only keep a small space for the text. But I think
that because the text is on a white background, it is clear to see and easy to read. The
illustrations are well worth being so big though, because they are great.
Content: (write a paragraph)
The content is very appropriate. It definitely inspires children to be creative and imaginative.
This book is in the setting of a house and an imaginary island or land, as seen in the
illustrations. The characters are not very developed, but we can tell that Max, the main
character, is mischievous and imaginative. The language can be geared for older children
because of some more advanced words. There can be many themes in this book, such as
mischief, imagination, or even longing for being loved. These are all seen through the text and
illustrations.
Describe characters: (write a paragraph)
Max is the main character. He is a young boy who gets into trouble and creates an alternate
world where he is king of the wild things on his own private land where the wild things are.
He is extremely imaginative and creative. He seems very independent. The other characters
are the wild things, but they are not developed at all. Their appearance is described, but they
are very undeveloped characters.
Illustrations/Style & Color: (write a paragraph)
The illustrations are awesome. They are sort of faded colors and not overly colorful, but still
wonderful. The expressions on all of the wild things are amazing. They are not too scary
because they have a smile on their face. They are also sort of intimidating in a way because of
their large bodies, long claws, and yellow eyes. They seem like nice monsters. The color and

grainy aspect of the pictures fits perfectly because it is nighttime in the story. I think if they
were more colorful than we would have not gotten the nighttime effect.
Describe how you would you use this book in a classroom to promote literacy learning?
(write a paragraph)
I think I would do a literacy unit of how to analyze a book. I would incorporate prediction, by
using the front cover to predict what might happen in the story because the cover is very good
for prediction. I would analyze the authors language and the word choice she uses, because
some words are interesting and intentional. We could also talk about how the words effected
the emotions of the reader. The words used to describe the wild things make the reader kind of
nervous and frightened. The words also make the reader feel excited at times, too.

Include picture of book cover:

Hyperlink:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7ApWn-r3nk
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19543.Where_the_Wild_Things_Are?
ac=1&from_search=true
Rate book on a scale of 0 to 5: Rate book according to the criteria listed above. Justify your
rating by discussing. (Write a detailed paragraph)
4. I chose to rate this book a 4 because the story was great, the themes are great, the
illustrations are amazing, and it is extremely engaging. Children love to play with their
imagination and create things that are not actually real, like a jungle in their bedroom. This
book inspires children to be creative and imaginative. It also has so many lessons like not to be
mischievous. You can also learn that you will miss home eventually even when you want to
run away to another world. You will miss the love that you get from home. When the fun is
over and you are all alone, you will wish you were back home. I think this book is great for
many age levels. The only bad thing that I can gather from this book is it may give children the
wrong idea about being bossy. Max bosses the wild things around and becomes their king, but
I do not think this message was intended to be this way and it is not strong enough to give a
child a bad message. Other than that reason, this book is great.

Provide a reference page that includes a list of all books you used for this assignment
listed in APA format.
Look, L., & Heo, Y. (2006). Uncle Peter's amazing Chinese wedding. New York: Atheneum
Books for Young Readers.
Rappaport, D., & Collier, B. (2001). Martin's big words: The life of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.
New York: Hyperion Books for Children.
Sendak, M. (1963). Where the wild things are. New York: Harper & Row.
Seuss, Dr. (1985). The cat in the hat. New York: Random House.
Shannon, D. (1998). No, David! New York: Blue Sky.
Sweet, M., Newborn, R., & Paquette, C. (2011). Balloons over Broadway: The true story of
the
puppeteer of Macy's Parade. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.
Viorst, J., & Cruz, R. (1987). Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
New
York: Atheneum.
Woodson, J., & Lewis, E. B. (2012). Each kindness. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books.

Rubric follows
Rubric for Picturebook Literacy Analysis
2.5

The student defined/described picturebooks and listed four genres (specified

above) that used a picturebook format. The student also provided two examples of
books that fit under each genre listed after the student read and analyzed these
texts using Hucks Guidelines, p. 82. Further, the student analyzed one

picturebook in depth, discussed the books features, how it could engage readers
to foster literacy growth, critiqued its format, illustrations, described potential
uses for the book in the classroom, included hyperlink/s to a book talk, video,
and/or other book analysis/critiques for the book (if available), rated the book
according to specific criteria listed for this assignment, and provided a reference
page using APA format for all books listed in the assignment. All directions for
the assignment have been followed and important details were included in order
to present a clear understanding of picturebooks in the students analysis. The
paper is organized with no spelling or punctuation errors.
2.0

The student has met most of the criteria described above. However, the student is
missing minor pieces of information and did not follow one of the directions.

1.5 1.0

The student has met most of the criteria described above. However, the students is
missing several pieces of information and did not follow two or more of the
directions.

The students assignment was missing significant criteria described above, was
incomplete, and did not meet the objective.