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Maddy Lopez

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Maddy Lopez is currently reading

The Stranger

by Albert Camus

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Oct 18, 2016 09:23PM

Maddy Lopez is currently reading

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend

by Dan Santat (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: caldecott, currently-reading

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Maddy Lopez said: " Synopsis:
This book has been awarded a Caldecott Medal and is a beautifully illustrated story about an imaginary creature in search of his “forever friend”.The book starts off on this colorful island where all the imaginary friends are born- before t Synopsis:
This book has been awarded a Caldecott Medal and is a beautifully illustrated story about an imaginary creature in search of his “forever friend”.The book starts off on this colorful island where all the imaginary friends are born- before they are even thought of. Every imaginary friend begins to disappear one by one, except for this marshmallow fellow with a crown. He eventually takes it upon himself to search for his friend by sailing from the imaginary island to the city. Through searching in places he would hope to find him or her, he finally meet his forever friend in the most unexpected way. The text is simple, yet thoughtful to express this idea of being courageous for what you want most in life. Sometimes you can’t even imagine what you want, until it’s right there in front of you.

Teaching Connection:
The author includes foreshadowing of future events through illustrations to get students thinking about the possible events to come. This book allows students to infer through the text and illustrations to distinguish what may lie ahead for Beekle. Also the author’s use of colors, light and dark, highly reflect the tone or mood of the story and character. For example, as Beekle reaches the city and begins to roam through streets, there are black and gray colors used. This could imply a lack of creativity as this is where adults usually are. In a quick comparison, Beekle has entered a playground full of children and color to display the creativity they possess. There are many elements to this story that could be further looked into as mini lessons: inferences, author’s purpose, use of images to convey emotions, etc.

Displays author’s use of contrasting colors to convey a greater meaning.

description

This idea of dull vs creativity across age groups reminds me of the Shel Silverstein poem “Where the Sidewalk Ends” where there is contrast between light and dark in reference to youth and adult:
description

Why this book is a WOW book:
I would highly recommend this book to have on your shelves because it teaches an important lesson of creativity and friendship. I loved his book because it was enough for me to take on the lenses of a child and feel the brilliance of color and imagination. I know from experience that this book is a crowd pleaser with younger students, as it opens their minds to adventure and endless opportunities to explore the bright colorful illustrations. It made me realize that as we get older, we may be in this dark, dismal place the author described the city through color. But, in contrast, this book offers a sense of light to the darkness by reinforcing these ideas of creativity and imagination we find amongst our youth- at the playground. These elements can be found in our lives, sometimes we just have to look for it like Beekle did with his forever friend. It is a light-hearted book for all ages! ...more "

Oct 18, 2016 08:37PM · see review