Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mallick, Illustrated by Sophie Blackall
Bibliography
Mattick, Lindsay. 2015. FINDING WINNIE: THE TRUE STORY OF THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS BEAR. Ill. by Sophie Blackall. New York; Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316324908
Plot Summary
Sophie Blackall beautifully illustrates what the author, Lindsay Mattick, narrates in a bedtime story to her young son that explains her great-grandfather's real-life connection to the fictional character Winnie-the-Pooh. As a veterinarian taking care of horses in WWI, Captain Harry Coleman comes upon a bear cub on his journey to Canada and England. Winnie is taken care of and loved by the soldiers at the camp until Coleman leaves for France. Winnie’s next adventure takes place in the London Zoo, where the author A.A. Milne is inspired to create and write stories about the children’s classic Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh.
Critical Analysis
This Caldecott Medal winning picture book reveals the intriguing real story behind Winnie-the-Pooh and is delightfully told by the author in an enduring bedtime story to her son. We first meet Winnie as a bear cub at a train station, then discover the serendipitous friendship with the author’s veterinarian great-grandfather, Captain Harry Coleman. Mattick uses her craft to repeat the idea that Winnie was adored during the time she spent in Coleman’s care up until he had to leave her behind as he deployed to France. The bear cub’s story could have ended with her transfer to the London Zoo, but Mattick springs another surprise with A.A. Milne finding inspiration to create Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh. Mattick leaves her readers in heartfelt awe and with a new understanding of the world’s most famous bear.
Sophie Blackall’s watercolor and ink illustrations of Winnie and Harry create an interest and connection to all the characters in Mattick’s story. Blackall’s historic illustrations are colorful and calming which wonderfully juxtaposes the sepia toned WWI photographs included in The Album. Blackall creates a train journey on a single page, then later adds motion to just one page to depict the soldiers bringing Winnie all her favorite treats. Similar in idea to the character Winnie-the-Pooh's many adventures and never-ending appetite. Blackall borders some pages with illustrations that interrupt Winnie and Harry’s story with spotlighted vignettes when Mattick’s son comments or questions the events. This artful style reminds the reader that there is a narrator behind the personal family retelling.
Reviews and Awards
ALA Notable Children’s Books, 2016
Booklist starred, 09/01/15
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, 01/01/16
Caldecott Medal, 2016
Christian Library Journal, 03/01/16
Horn Book Guide starred, 04/01/16
Horn Book Magazine starred, 09/01/15
Kirkus Reviews, 07/15/15, “Mattick's prose has a storyteller's rhythm and features the occasional flourish (repeating "his heart made up his mind"); Blackall's watercolor-and-ink illustrations have a peaceful stillness that's welcome in a book that, though not about combat, concerns the trappings of war.”
Library Media Connection, 02/01/16
New York Times, 11/08015
Publishers Weekly starred 07/20/16
Resource Links, 12/01/15
School Library Journal starred, 08/01/16, “K-Gr 3-This sweet tale of the black bear that inspired the legendary children's book character Winnie-the-Pooh will resonate with readers.”
Connections
- Analyze the print on the page and distinguish between dialogue and the rest of the text.
- How does the plot explain character development?
- Family tree connections and emphasize the importance of passing down stories.
- https://www.sophieblackall.com/ Analyze techniques and style through the illustrator’s website.
- Discuss historical events such as purchasing a bear cub for 20 dollars, veterinarians and animals in WWI, treatment of animals in zoos.
- Explore A.A. Milne and Winnie-the-Pooh stories.
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Bibliography
McCloskey, Robert. 1941. MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS. New York: Viking. ISBN 0140564349
Plot Summary
This picture begins as Mr. and Mrs. Mallard are looking for a safe place to start a duck family. While flying above Boston, they begin their search at Public Gardens, then finally settle on the Charles River. Mrs. Mallard hatches eight baby ducklings and raises them safely along the riverbank until she decides to venture back to Public Gardens in search of peanuts. With the help of the Boston Police Department, Mrs. Mallard and her eight ducklings safely waddle through the busy city streets and back home again.
Critical Analysis
Robert McCloskey’s harrowing tale of two mallard ducks and their eight hatchlings has enchanted children for generations. The city of 1941 Boston is beautifully captured in this picture story book. The enduring story of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard in search of a safe place to nest and hatch eight ducklings is enhanced by full and emotive illustrations. Readers can enjoy the classic cars, buildings, and people while following the ducks on their journey. McCloskey transitions perspective with the ducks flying above Public Gardens, Beacon Hill, Louisburg Square, and the Charles River, then back down to the riverbank and city blocks.
McCloskey’s narrative writing is easy for children to follow while studying the pictures for details not stated. Finding eight ways to rhyme “quack” is no easy task, McCloskey however does this and adds a subtle bit of humor to his story by rhyming all eight duckling names. The linear plot allows younger readers to easily re-tell the story. The story moves along with single sentences and shorter paragraphs allowing more time to absorb the illustrations.
Reviews and Awards
Book Links, 01/01/99
Booklist
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Caldecott Medal, 1942
Christian Library Journal starred, 11/20/04
Horn Book Magazine
School Library Journal stared
Wilson’s Children, 10/01/10
Connections
- Younger readers can predict and retell the story from a linear plot and use signal words.
- Allow students to express what is in the illustrations that isn’t stated in the text for author’s purpose/craft, tone, and mood.
- Students can connect the illustrations to the time period of 1914 Boston.
- Connect realistic factors ducks need for a safe habitat.
- Explore contextual vocabulary of the pond and city.
- Use mentor sentences to identify dialogue and sentence complexity.
- Rhyme words like “quack”
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Bibliography
Selznick, Brian. 2007. THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET: A NOVEL IN PICTURE AND WORDS. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0439813786
Plot Summary
Hugo Cabret lives and works in a Paris train station fixing clocks as he hides from being discovered as an orphan. Hugo must resort to sneaking food to survive and stealing toy parts to fix his beloved automaton. Hugo’s only goal is to study drawings left by his father in a notebook and use the skills taught to him by his uncle to repair a project his father was repairing. Mysteries and trouble unfold with the help of a shopgirl and an aging pioneering film-maker Hugo meets in the train station. Selznick includes several pages of pencil illustrations and vintage film to progress the story through a zoomed in lens of historical and fictional events.
Critical Analysis
With The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick masterfully blurs the genre of picture book, graphic novel, and historical fiction. Selznick’s pencil drawing illustrations transport the reader to feel Hugo’s emotions with detail and page turning intrigue. The Caldecott Medal winning illustrations assist the reader by moving the plot along and creates a story through what the narrator wants the audience to focus on. Selznick alternates between illustrated scenes and vintage film stills and continues the writing where the pictures stop. Each set of page-turning drawings are crafted to tell a story through dramatic dark pencil shading and specific highlighted detail. Selznick engineers a world set in a cold 1930s train station with both crisp pencil lines and sensory descriptive writing. Readers are sure to be captivated by the engineering and mechanics of films and automation found in this novel.
This is a hefty read with over 285 illustrations and photographs in this 544 page children’s book, but well worth both the physical and mental weight of Brian Selznick’s storytelling.
Reviews and Awards
ALA Notable Children’s Books, 2008
Book Links, 05/01/08
Booklist, 01/15/07, “Selznick's "novel in words and pictures, "an intriguing mystery set in 1930s Paris about an orphan, a salvaged clockwork invention, and a celebrated filmmaker, resuscitates an anemic genre--the illustrated novel--and takes it to a whole new level. The result is somewhat similar to a graphic novel, but experiencing its mix of silvery pencil drawings and narrative interludes is ultimately more akin to watching a silent film.”
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books starred, 04/01/07
Caldecott Medal, 2008
Horn Book Magazine, 03/01/07, “Here's a dilemma for the Newbery committee...and the Caldecott: what do you do with an illustrated novel in which neither text nor pictures can tell the story alone? Not to mention the drama to be found in the page turns themselves.”
Kirkus Reviews starred, 01/15/07
Publishers Weekly starred, 01/01/07, “Here is a true masterpiece-an artful blending of narrative, illustration and cinematic technique, for a story as tantalizing as it is touching”
School Library Journal starred, 03/01/07
Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA), 02/01/07
Wilson’s Children, 10/01/10
Wilson’s Junior High School, 01/09/10
Connections
- https://www.thebrianselznick.com/ Analyze Brain Selznick’s illustration methods and writing craft through his collection of works.
- Explore the historical details of engineering toys, robots, films, clocks, and the culture of 1930s Paris.
- Share the first chapter and discuss how the author hooks the reader.
- Facilitate discussions about diverse families, overcoming adversity,
- Advise further nonfiction reading about Georges Melies, railroad stations, robots, history of Paris, France.
- For older readers, compare Selznick’s craft and style to other graphic novels, picture books, chapter books, fiction, and nonfiction.
A Big Guy Took My Ball by Mo Willems
Bibliography
Willems, Mo. 2013. A BIG GUY TOOK MY BALL. New York: Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 9781423174912
Plot Summary
Piggie enlists the help of her bigger friend Gerald to recover a lost ball. An ironic turn of events helps Piggie and Gerald realize things aren’t always what they appear to be, and friends can come in all sizes.
Critical Analysis
Younger readers will appreciate Mo Willems’ recognizable white background illustrations and speech bubble text in this Caldecott Medal winning picture book. Willems’ use of varied text size with simple sentence structure engages the audience to study the speech balloons as well as the illustrations for the emotion and expressions of Piggie and Gerald.
Willems plays with the use of bigger and smaller text styles to emphasize character development. As an easy reader, Willems utilizes repetition in the dialogue to assist an emerging independent reader. Many children face ordeals during recess just like Piggie and Gerald. These familiar characters navigate perceptions and problem-solving resolutions through humor and forgiveness. Readers will want to flip back to the beginning to experience the relatable false assumptions between Piggie, Gerald, and their new whale friend. The pages deserve to be re-read and drawings should be studied again for details missed the first time through.
Reviews and Awards
ALA Notable Children’s Books, 2014
Booklist, 05/01/13
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, 09/01/13
Horn Book Magazine, 11/01/13
Kirkus reviews, 04/15/13
School Library Journal, 07/01/13, “PreS-Gr 1-Once again Willems observes truths about human behavior through the eyes of Gerald, an elephant, and Piggie.”
Theodore Seuss Geisel Honor, 2014
Connections
- https://mowillemsworkshop.com/ collect and compare distinguishable Mo Willems craft and style techniques.
- Social and Emotional discussions around age-appropriate struggles.
- For younger readers, reenact a similar conflict and resolution.
- Character analysis through print and visuals.
- Use mentor sentences to discuss grammar and syntax.
- Discussion around fairness, respect, caring, and compassion.
- Incorporate math skills with comparing vocabulary