Demetria Largie

9/19/2016

Picturebook Literacy Analysis

Due: Week 5, 9-22-16
Submit file & URL (both) to Assignments due 9/22
Define/describe Picturebooks: book that conveys meaning through art and
text. Pictures enhance the story and the elements of design can impact the
meaning
1) Fiction/Fantasy picturebooks- a work of literature that when events,
setting, or characters are not real.
Yorinks, A. (1986). Hey, Al. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Van Allsburg, C. (1992). The Widows Broom. HMH Books for Young Readers.
2) Multicultural
picturebooks- allows
opportunites
to
develop
understanding of others, while affirming those from diverse
backgrounds.
Caines, J. (1984). Just Us Women. HarperCollins Publisher.
Verde, S. (20016). The Water Princess. G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers.
3) Contemporary Realistic Fiction picturebooks- a work of literature that
includes stories that could really happen to people or animals.
Characters are made up.
Keats, E. (1964). Whistle for Willie. Viking Books for Young Readers.
Viorst, J. (1972). Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Atheneum
Books for Young Readers.
4) Nonfiction/Informational picturebooks- a work of literature informs
and entertains a reader through real documented facts.
McNutly, F. (2005). If You Decide To Go To The Moon. Scholastic Press.
Mortenen, L. (2009). In the Trees, Honey Bees. Dawn Publications.
Write detailed paragraphs in blank template for your responses
below.
Development of cultural awareness- picture books can expose
students to new cultures that they may not have seen first hand but
gives them an introduction to cultures.
Understanding of controversial issues that may come up in
picturebooks- picture books can help students learn how to handle
these situations in a way that will not hurt others.
Becoming critical readers of books- picture books conditions young
children for critical thinking, when the students start to make
inferences from the pictures and the text, they reach a level of
deeper thinking.
Analyze one Picturebook using the following guidelines and
criteria (this is a different book than listed above):
Name of book, author Yolen, J. (1987). Owl Moon. Philomel Books.
Name genre using a picturebook format: Contemporary Realistic

Demetria Largie
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picturebook
Age range book is intended: 3-7 years old
Brief description or synopsis of book: A young child and her Papa leaves
their comfy, warm cabin to go owl hunting. The child reminds herself the
rules of owling so that she does not interrupt the hunt. The travel around
and have not found one owl, after Papa has made a few owl calls. But as
the young child remembers to stay patient, they find a owl who answers
back to Papa!
Book awards received, if any: Caldecott Medal
Discuss how the books features could engage readers to promote
literacy growth
This book promotes literacy through repetition, patterns, and great images.
This book would be useful when in a unit on seasons as well as a unit on
animal life and their habitats. Students would be able to stretch their
imagination at the end of the story by adding more to the text or even with
a picture. This book would also open up opportunity for students to share
about their experiences with their Papa or their adventures out in the
woods. This book does a great job on introducing the importance of
patience even when a child is really excited, if they stay patient and follow
the rules they could make it easier to achieve the things they wanted.
Appealing format: I would say the book is appealing to all elementary
students because of the vivid pictures. The size of the font is medium sized
so the pictures actually grabs the attention of the reader. The suspense of
what will happen next makes the book engaging because you feel like
youre on the search for the owl. There is not a lot of text on the pages but
the author uses great word choices to convey a sense of reality. The cover
of the book does set the tone for the book, it gives the reader an
introduction and sneak peek of where the book will take them.
Page layout
The illustrations cover each page in its entirety. It seems the author really
wanted the reader to focus on the pictures to take us on a journey with the
little girl and her father in the mountains. The pages do not seem crowded
at all, the text is smaller and to the side so it does not get in the way of
capturing the environment. The author follows a pattern on 2-page
spreads throughout the entire book, the spacing demonstrates movement
because the reader can see Papa and the little girl get closer to the trees
and further away from their home. The author does portray the movement
through the illustrations, while looking at these pictures a reader can feel
calm and in a quiet area like the little girl.
Content:
I do not think this would be a good read for a 3-year-old, I think of my 3year-old and she is not interested in calm books. I think 3-year-olds are in

Demetria Largie
9/19/2016

the stage of fun, excitement, and laughs, this book would not be
appropriate for them. The story has a backdrop setting, we can see the
snow and trees but the author does not share exactly where this takes
place or when it takes place. Stereotypes are avoided because the story
never specifies gender or race and the illustrations mimic that. The
pictures leave it neutral for the reader to pick it themselves while they
create their own images in their mind. I would say that images are created
as you read, the illustrator did a fantastic job and so did the author with
the text. The combination of the two creates a motion picture for the
reader, while reading this I could imagine the young child clinging her coat
to try and keep warm. The theme is developed through the text and
pictures, they both showed the importance of patience and provided a nice
surprise for the readers at the end of the story
Describe characters:
The characters are a little flat, the author never really tells the reader if the
young child with Papa is a boy or girl. We have to make an inference to find
out more specifics on the child. We can see the internal growth in the
young child as she goes on a hunt with her Papa, she reminds herself of
the rules of owl hunting. Through the text we can infer that the child
character has been accompanying her Papa for sometime and she has
formed a close bond with him.
Illustrations/Style:
The illustrations are not labeled, but they are very engaging. The style of
the illustrations takes the reader on a journey through the snow and the
trees. They do portray a series of events that lead up to finding an owl!
They add a lot of detail to the story and when I think of reading this story
with no pictures, I feel it would be less impressionable. This book does
inspire children to make inferences because it provides an opportunity for
the students to carry on with the story, it has an open-ending.
Color:
I think the author did perfect with the color scheme in the story to actually
make the true feel of Papa and the little girl going owl hunting. The
illustrator uses whites, blues, greens, blacks, and browns. The colors do not
change through out the story. The colors used in the book really enhance
the story because when you open up the book it looks just like winter! It
looks the way it would if we were to visit the mountains in real life. For
students who have been exposed to that, it would immediately catch their
attention when they open up the book.
Describe how you would you use this book in a classroom to
promote literacy learning?
I would pair this book with a nonfiction big book that teaches the students
about the four seasons, but we would focus on winter to form a connection
with the book. After, reading the book, I would ask the students is there

Demetria Largie
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anything you look forward to doing in the winter? This would be a time for
them to share with two other students sitting next to them. After
discussing I will ask the students how did the illustrations in the book make
them feel about the story, we will raise hands and share. Then I would say
draw an illustration if you were writing a story that took place in the winter
time, what would your characters do during this time and how would they
look?
Include picture of book cover

Hyperlink to a book talk, video, and/or other book analysis/critiques for

this book (if available) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDlhUKV4tWM
Rate book on a scale of 0 to 5: Rate book according to the criteria listed
above. Justify your rating by discussing:
I would rate this book a 4 only because I think this could be difficult for
some readers in that intended age range, that are not on-level. This is a
great book for many reasons. The illustrator did a great job of taking the
reader out of their reality and into a new world. The story line is very
engaging, it makes you feel like you are apart of the owling and you hope
they find some owls. This book is relatable to students because it can
remind them of things they enjoy doing with their Papa. To improve the
content, I think it would be great to add page in the beginning of the story
to share a little more dialogue between Papa and the young child and even
show the excitement and youthfulness of the child before they go out
owling.
Provide a reference page that includes a list of all books you used
for this assignment listed in APA format.
**PLEASE SEE REFERENCE PAGE (LAST PAGE)**

Demetria Largie
9/19/2016

Demetria Largie
9/19/2016

References
Caines, J. (1984). Just Us Women. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publisher.
Keats, E. (1964). Whistle for Willie. New York, NY: Viking Books for Young Readers.
McNutly, F. (2005). If You Decide To Go To The Moon. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.
Mortenen, L. (2009). In the Trees, Honey Bees. Nevada City, CA: Dawn Publications.
Van Allsburg, C. (1992). The Widows Broom. Boston, MA: HMH Books for Young Readers.
Verde, S. (20016). The Water Princess. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young
Readers.
Viorst, J. (1972). Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. New York, NY:
Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Yolen, J. (1987). Owl Moon. New York, NY: Philomel Books.
Yorinks, A. (1986). Hey, Al. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.