By Cristofer Mattern Assignment 1: Visual Elements of Art and Evaluative Criteria

My Teacher is a Monster by Peter Brown I feel this story exemplifies line. On the very first few pages you see a line showing the path of Robert’s paper airplane, which conveys a sense of movement. I also feel the line of airplane path shows the great distance between Robert and Ms. Kirby, making them seem like they are very far apart in being able to relate to one another. Also the size comparison between the students and their teacher makes me feel that the students are insignificant. It makes Ms. Kirby seem like a giant in comparison to her students. There is a also a set of pages which includes some ducks swimming which conveys movement and motion. On the same pages you see the distance between Robert standing and Ms. Kirby sitting on the bench. This also shows I feel a mood of separation and inequality. Finally, when Ms. Kirby’s hat blows away the lines show movement, motion, and distance.

This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen I feel this story exemplifies shape. On the very first page you see the small fish swimming and notice the pupil of his eye. The position of the pupil shows how he is worried for what might be lurking behind him. Then on the next page you see the big fish and the shape of his closed eye is like a crescent moon, this same shape is repeated as the book comes to a close. However on the next page as he wakes up you see a large circle with the pupil dead center. On the following page you see the pupil of his eye has moved to the top of his eye as he is noticing his hat is missing. (Even though the small fish claims, “he probably won’t notice that it’s gone.”) Then the next page the big fish’s eye narrows to an oval, and the round pupil has moved to the far right of the eye to show a stern angry look expression. You see this expression on the big fish a few more times throughout the book. On the next page that the small fish shows up again, his pupil has now moved towards the center. It makes me feel like he is alert and excited at the same time. You see this look on the small fish again later. Then the last time you see the small fish’s eye, you notice how his pupil is toward the right as he has found his destination, “Where the plants are big and tall and close together!” These plants are illustrated beautifully as it shows motion when the big fish follows after the small fish. The pupils of the small crab and supporting character also move throughout the book from dead center when the small fish swims by, then they move far left when he discusses the location of the small fish to the big fish, and finally they are again on the far left as he sees the big fish leave the plants.

The Legend of the Bluebonnet retold and illustrated by Tomie DePaola I remember reading this story in elementary school and always being in awe of the color in its pages. The brown, yellow, and orange are not overflowing the early pages, but you definitely feel the warmth of the terrible drought. Also in these early pages you see white in the sky, which makes me feel empty inside as if something is missing. Finally the sky turns pink as day is turning to dusk. Then in the early evening you see how the cool colors of blue and purple come out and you almost feel relief as the hot sun has now set. Then at the darkest part of the evening with the indigo sky in the background and the orange, red, and yellow of the fire glowing you still can see the turquoise blue feather of the bird that goes, “jay, jay, jay” on her doll. Then the next morning when the girl awakens she is surprised by the beautiful blue of bluebonnets on fields of what used to be brown and yellow are now turning to a lush green.

The Three Pigs by David Wiesner In this story the visual element that I really took notice of is texture. While reading the first few pages I think it is just your typical telling of three pig brothers who built their houses out of straw, sticks, and bricks. By the third page, you notice this isn’t your typical story as the first pig starts talking to the reader saying, “Hey! He blew me right out of the story! The pig also lost some of his cartoon like picture quality to a more realistic picture quality, while seeming to come off the page. This is even more noticeable on the next set of pages as the first pig convinces his brother to come off the illustration and join him outside of the picture. Then the next few set of pictures shows pages being shuffled around and taken away from the story and being folded up. Then even more motion is being shown on the following sets of pages as the pigs ride a flying airplane made-up of one of the pages folded up. Then they go on to enter and exit from two other nursery rhyme stories taking some of those stories’ characters with them. Then there is the hall of pages which seem so life-like and makes me think of a fun house with all the crazy mirrors. Wiesner decides to wrap up the story by bringing the pigs back home and incorporating characters from the other nursery rhyme stories.

Olivia by Ian Falconer Before this assignment, I never had read Olivia before, but after reading and looking at the illustration on the first page I knew which evaluation criteria she exemplified: character. On the page before the dedication page you see Olivia taking off her dress and the dress is covering her head. What comes to my mind immediately? My 2.5 year-old daughter trying to change clothes. And why does my daughter and Olivia do this? To show her independent character. Then the dedication page shows her listening to music with a headset, but by the next few pages you see she has grown bored of the music as her music player is tossed to the side. She is now making her own music by singing. This again makes me think of my daughter, who has such a small attention span and goes from one activity to the next very quickly. On another page you see her looking at herself in the mirror with her mother’s make-up, jewelry, and accessories. Again this is my daughter, as she loves to mimic my wife. So many more pages are relatable to me from the the page in which she doesn’t want to take a nap to the page which she colors on the wall and even the page in which she picks about five books to read at bedtime and bargains with her mother to cut it down to three. In my opinion, Falconer does a wonderful job modeling the typical toddler in the form of this little pig. As I re-read that section in Children’s Literature in Action I notice that Ms. Vardell agrees that Olivia exemplifies character.

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and Illustrated by Michael Marchenko I feel that this story exemplifies composition, because in my opinion none of the four elements really stand out. On the last page when you see the silhouette of Elizabeth walking off in the sunset, I feel the colors of orange and yellow. These warm colors are vivid and it makes me think of a hot summer day in Houston. I can almost feel the warmth. I also feel the illustrator does a nice job of shape on the page in which she has defeated the dragon. In the background you see the rounded triangular door and window, which makes me think of entering the door. I also really like the use of the lines on the page in which the dragon flies away and the smoke trail gradually grows narrower and thinner, giving you a sense of the distance and speed of the dragon. The final think that makes me feel the entire story is put together well is my daughter. One night I read this book to her and the for the following four days she kept on mentioning the book with the princess and the dragon and how she wanted to read it again. If a child wants to read/listen to a book again, I feel that is the ultimate testament to the author and the illustrator that they created a successful book.

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach Retold by Carmen Agra Deedy and Illustrated by Michael Austin I feel that the evaluation criteria of plot best fits for this story. The author tells a typical coming of age story for a young girl named Martina, who is actually a cockroach rather than a girl. The young cockroach’s grandmother is the one who gives her the advice of the coffee test. Suitor after suitor comes and goes and Martina is about to give up her search at the climax of the story. The author and illustrator doa wonderful job showing the wide ranges of emotions and behavior of the different suitors as the hot coffee is poured on their shoe. But then her wise grandmother points out a young mouse that could be suitable for a mate. As they talk, Martina soon realizes this is love, but as she is about to perform the coffee test, her love interest beats her to the deed and does it to her. Bewildered she asks how he knew about the test and he informs her that he too has a wise Cuban grandmother.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak This first word in the title alone gives you a hint that the setting is important to this story. Max starts out in his house making mischief and when he makes an unkind comment to his mother, he is sent to his room. In his room suddenly a forest starts to grow. From there his room continues to fade into the background and his new surroundings are filled with the forest trees and vines. From there he goes onto a boat into a “place where the wild things are.” Then with his strong words, “BE STILL” he becomes their leader. They have lots of fun, but then when he smells the smell of a delicious dinner he decides to leave and no longer be their leader. So after a long ride home on his boat he arrives back to his room with a hot supper waiting for him.

This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen I feel this story exemplifies theme. According to Ms. Vardell, “the average adult wants a children’s book to have a…lesson.” Then goes on to say that most “kids are generally rather resistant to sermonizing…” I couldn’t agree more, but I feel Mr. Klassen does an excellent job in sharing a lesson, but at the same time makes the story very enjoyable. In fact during the story the small fish even says, “I know stealing is wrong…” and then continues to justify why he stole the hat. I also feel that this story has what Ms. Vardell calls a “satisfying closure” as Mr. Klassen shows the big fish following the little fish into the tall plants to get his hat back. In the final scene we do see that the big fish has retrieved his hat, but there is no trace of the small fish. This leaves a lot of open questions for the reader, such as What happened to the small fish? Did he get eaten by the big fish? Did the small fish just give in to the big fish and give up the hat? Did the two fish have a fight and the big fish win? Did the big fish just ask for his hat back and the small fish oblige?

It’s a Book by Lane Smith Even before reading this book, I decided to reserve the evaluation criteria of style to Smith’s book. After my first reading of the story, I was not disappointed as Smith delivered with flying colors, with a huge running gag/pun throughout the story as the donkey compares the books to an electronic device. It is also filled with personification as the donkey, monkey, and mouse are all talking and wearing clothing. I had heard from other librarians that the book is very well put together, but at the end Smith puts something controversial. Well, when I finally got my hands on the book, I read through it in less than two minutes. The dialogue just flowed so well and was so very creative in its simplicity. But then on the last page you see the mouse telling the donkey, “You don’t have to…It’s a book, Jackass.” When I read it to my head librarian she too enjoyed the book, but when I got to that last line she almost fell out of her seat. We were both so disappointed that Smith decided to include that line. Some libraries might think it’s just a creative use of “wordplay”, but I feel working at private Catholic School this book would definitely cause some upset parents. I am sure at most public schools parents would feel the same way. I also loved the symbolism. I felt the donkey represented our young society who are connected to the hip with electronic devices, compared to the monkey, who I feel represent older society like us adults. I also found it ironic that even though originally the donkey was engaged with his laptop and other electronic device comparisons it was the book that actually kept his attention. In fact he was so engaged that he would not give the book back to the monkey, and he had to go to the library to check-out another book.

Mirror, Mirror by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Josée Masse There were so many things I felt the author and illustrator did well in this book when it came to the Visual Elements of Art and Evaluative Criteria. Finally, I chose illustrations. The cover is a preview of what lies ahead. How Singer writes the reverso poems so eloquently, they too are an illustration of sorts. I also love how the illustrates intertwine with one another. This is seen beautifully in “The Doubtful Duckling” as the duckling is part swan and part duck, but mirrored to show the reverse of the swan being part swan and part duck. I also love the illustration for “Bears in the News” when one half shows the point of view Goldilocks with her surprised look with the bears shadows in background. Then the other half shows the bears’ point of view with Goldilocks’ back us and the Bears’ bewildered expressions. However the last poem, “The Road” I love the illustration stands out to me the most as I feel it does such an awesome job of integrating both the inside world and outside world of the princess. The illustrator also chooses to place different remnants throughout the road of the different poems we had read on the previous pages.

The Legend of the Bluebonnet retold and illustrated by Tomie DePaola In one of favorite childhood stories, I feel the evaluation criteria that best fits is cultural markers. I have always loved DePaola’s work, but as I look on the opening page I notice he does portray a stereotype of how Native Americans looked and dressed. He gives all the characters (except our protagonist and the spirits of her family) a similar look. On the other hand, I feel he does give an authentic look into what the life of the Native Americans might have been like before Texas became Texas. He does this with the names of the main character, the acts of the people, the talking about the “Great Spirits” and with the girl’s act of sacrifice.