Kaitlyn's PRP Week 7

This week I have read 2 novels.

Title: The Red Wind

Author: Isobelle Carmody

The Red Wind is a story about two brothers. They live off the land by foraging and growing what they can. The conflict of the story is the red wind which slowly descends on their home and destroys their way of life. The two brothers are not human, they are furry, have tails, and hatched from an egg. Their origin isn’t explained and the question of where they came from is an underlying question to the whole story. This would lend itself well to exploring inferred information. This story also has obvious links to the issues around the environment, which could be explored. The novel also includes illustrations. Students could explore how these affect the reader’s feelings and interpretations of the story, and why the author has included them.

Title: The Fall

Author: Garth Nix

The Fall is the first book in a series of 6. It has a very definite Quest plot. In the novel Tal needs to find a new sunstone, a source of magic and power, for his family. This will keep them in the elite society. Complications of this quest result in Tal being rescued by an unknown society. He is then forced to agree to gain a sunstone for them as well. There are many different this in the book that could be analysed. For example; how the author builds the story while also including points to continue with in further books, or, the issues of class, cultures, and merit as explored in the book.

Kaitlyn's PRP Week 8

This week I have read 2 picture books:

Title: The Two Bullies

Author: Junko Morimoto

The story in this picture book has been translated from Japanese. It is about 2 men. Ni-ou claims to be the strongest man in Japan. When he hears about a strongman in china he decides to challenge him. However they never fight. Both men become intimidated before they meet and are so sure that the other is stronger that they are glad they didn’t fight. This book has a lot of inferred information, especially in regards to the men’s actions. It is also well illustrated in a Japanese style and shows some Asian culture.

Title: The Wizard the Ugly and the Book of Shame

Author: Pablo Bernasconi

This is a story about a wizard’s assistant who wants to be handsome. He tries to use the wizard’s spell book while the wizard is away which results in the book becoming damaged. This causes the wizard to cast spells with uncertain outcomes until the assistant confesses. The solution to the problem is for the assistant to become handsome without the use of magic. This book has a large amount of text. The book has clear ideals, and it would be easy to explore the moral of the story with students. It focuses on the ideas of beauty, self esteem, and admitting mistakes.

Michael's final post PRP 7

The Last Alchemist by Colin Thompson

The Last Alchemist is a picture book that is written and illustrated by Colin Thompson.  Colin Thompson uses a range of brilliant descriptions accompanied with some very interesting and detailed illustrations.  In the story the king seeks to make gold and asks his alchemist ‘Spinifex’ to do so.  The alchemist then stole everyone’s gold and brought it back to try and create more.  No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t do so.  This story shows that gold or money can’t buy happiness and is not the most important thing in the world.  The resolution to this story occurs when the king realises that what is most important to him is his kingdom and the people close to him and not his wealth.

Michael's PRP 6

The Lorax by Dr Seuss (1971)

The Lorax is a fantastic story that is extremely suitable for kids of all ages.  It is not only written with Dr Seuss’ characteristics rhymes but with an underlying moral message.  This could be a great way to introduce environmental awareness with children.  The story begins with The Lorax’s favourite Truffalo Trees being cut down.  The Lorax then tries to fight against those who are destroying them but his fight is all in vain.   The area becomes baron as the Lorax sends all the environment away and the factory that was processing the trees shuts down.  The story is written in an extremely interesting manner and it is brilliant at drawing emotions when explaining the destruction that is occurring to the environment.  Could not only be an interesting read for students but could be used to begin a unit on environmental awareness.

Cat and Fish (2003) by Joan Grant and illustrated by Neil Curtis

This is a picture book with some very impressive black and white illustrations.  The text is very simple and due to this would b suitable for very young readers.  The book has a really nice story of friendship and about being mindful of differences.  Cat and Fish meet right at the beginning where they immediately become friends.  They then walk around on land doing all of the things that cat loved before going to the sea to do what fish loved.  In the end they decide to live on the beach so that they can remain friends but still do the things they love.  This is a good story in teaching kids about differences and explaining that differences are not bad.   The illustrations used throughout are very detailed and allow the reader to create a really nice visual image of the story.

Bianca's Last Post

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is a classic story of a horse’s life from his own perspective, and the wonderful and terrible things that he witnesses and endures at the hands of various people. Not a particularly long story, this novel would be perfect for a student in early Middle Years or used for shared reading to a younger audience.

Willy the Wimp by Anthony Browne is a favourite picture book of mine. Browne’s character illustrations portray, like many of his picture books, chimpanzees and gorillas living, acting and talking as humans. The text is simplistic but the context-related humour in the story is best suited to students aged 7 to 10 years.

Great Ocean Walk

Written and illustrated by Jiri Tibor Novak.

The illustrations in this picture book are made up of a mixture of drawings and photographs. The plot follows a boy and his father as they walk along the beach, picking up treasures they find along the way. The elements of fantasy and adventure, linked with the reality of walking along the beach make this picture book interesting to explore.

Goggle-Eyes

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Written by Anne Fine.

This novel is a sweet story of two young girls having difficulty accepting their mothers’ new boyfriends. I like the way this novel is written because it is told from the perspective of one girl who has already been through what the other girl is upset about. The technique of being told as a reflection but in the present tense is an interesting combination.