The three picture books I read:
“Inky’s Amazing Escape” by Sy Montgomery Published: 2018
“My Great Aunt Arizona” by Gloria Houston Published: 1992
“Robinson” by Peter Sis Published: 2017
For this week’s reading, I chose to evaluate “Robinson” by Peter Sis. I recently discovered this book while searching for children’s books in a book store. The illustrations caught my eye immediately. The pages are full of color from the top to the bottom of the page, and it the pictures have a dreamy effect to them that captured my attention. The water color lines makes the pages come alive and add meaning to the story. This book is a picture storybook, with equal parts illustration and words on the page.
“Robinson” is about a young boy who loves adventure. When his school had a dress up day, his friends all wanted to dress up as pirates. His mother explained to him that he should dress up as Robinson Crusoe instead of a pirate because he loves adventure and Robinson Crusoe was a wild adventurer. The boy decided to dress up as Robinson Crusoe, only to get teased by his friends. When a went home after dress up day, he drifted off to sleep and dreamed of a far away land. In his dream, he was alone on an island and figured out how to survive with the animals, before the pirates approached. He woke up from his dream to his friends apologizing and they all ended up dressing up as Robinson Crusoe.
The book tackles the struggle of being embarrassed in school in an appropriate way. I think most students can relate to a time they might have felt embarrassed at school. This book has a wonderful ending where his friends wanted to learn more about Robinson Crusoe, which shows students that apologizing to friends when their feelings are hurt is a great way to help them feel better. This book also dives into some identity aspects because all of his friends went as pirates but he decided to differ and dress up as who he wanted to be. This is a good lesson for students to express individuality, because in the end, everyone wanted to learn more.
I would definitely use this book in my classroom one day because students can learn and enjoy the pictures within this book. One way to implement this book into the classroom is through the Notebook Connections strategy “the fab five”. This book is between a second and third grade reading level, and in second and third grade retelling is a big focus. The fab five strategy is a way for students to retell the story using only five sentences. This strategy would be good to use along with this book because there are a lot of small details that are not important to the main points of the story. Students can learn to retell the story only using five important details – who? wants what? but? so? then?
One way to evoke reader’s response is to ask students questions about the deeper meaning of the story. Ask questions like “how does he feel throughout the story? does his feelings change? Why does he feel this way?” These questions will lead into the retelling of the story.
Alyssa's Literature Site 
Hi Alyssa,
All 3 books you chose have amazing cover illustrations! I had forgotten about Inky!!
I thought you picked great questions for your Reader’s Response. They not only were evocative but would make students consider the story in chronological order.
Thank you for sharing!
Ruth
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Hello,
So after reading your review, I feel depending on age that I teach this book is one of those books that you read in the first week or month, since it covers being embarrassed at school, I feel all kids should hear this book. Thanks for sharing your books I’m excited to read this book for myself.
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Though I have yet to read “Robinson” it sounds like a great book to share with a class. The story would definitely hold meaning to students because, as you said, most have probably felt embarrassed at school. I think students enjoy stories the most when they can make a connection to the characters within, and this book sounds like a perfect match in that aspect. It also sounds like retelling this story would be really interesting. “Robinson” sounds like it holds a lot of detail so it would be interesting to discover which details and parts of the plot the students find most important.
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Hi Alyssa, your post was written very well. I especially liked your idea of how to incorporate the story within a classroom. The deeper understanding i think would be great and beneficial of students to do and to really think about what they just read. Great job!
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Regarding your classroom activity, would you do this as a discussion and the students would give their Fab Five sentences to you out loud? I think this is good because it will encourage your students to really think about the story and as a teacher, you can see what stuck out to them. This could help you learn more about your students. You could ask why those specific parts of the story seemed important enough to include it in your Fab Five. The reader’s response you chose to go along with this is also very good because it encourages the students to take somebody else’s feelings into account.
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Hello Alyssa,
The cover illustration of Robinson is really beautiful, and your description of the book has enticed me into reading it next time I’m at the library. I love the illustration of the map as a sail and the curls of the wave. It portrays a book about adventure, and what is better than adventure when you’re young? I really like that you picked-up on the aspect of embarrassment in book. Like you mentioned, this is a common theme for young students and it’s great that this books addresses it. Coincidentally, I also used the Fab Five for my notebook connections strategy this week. I think it’s a great strategy to practice writing.
-Leah D.
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Alyssa,
I think that Robinson is a book that every child can relate to. You had a great point about how ever child has been or will be embarrassed in school at some point and this is a great way to teach kids how to deal with it without directly telling them. Your idea of bridging the gap between readers response and the fab five notebook connection is a wonderful idea. You did a nice job bring in a common standard that is very important for the children to learn.
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Hi Alyssa!
I’ve never heard of the book “Robinson” before, but after reading your review I hope I get a chance to read it someday! I really admire the idea of having students write about the emotion they think the main character experiences throughout the story. Especially for a story that depicts emotions these students reading it will feel, I find it crucial for them to spend the time thinking about the emotions he felt and how he dealt with it. It is a great opportunity to help them with their own emotions!
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Alyssa, I loved your blog and all the aspects you touch on. I do think Robinson would be an excellent book to use in the classroom! I am also interested in “Inky’s Amazing Escape.” I plan on reading it because it has sparked my interest:) Elizabeth
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Hi Alyssa, I think the Fab five would be a great way to get the kids thinking about this story and learning to sum it up in a few sentences. Ask students the deeper meaning of the story would be good to follow along during the story and teaching them to retell stories is beneficial. Great book choices!
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