After sitting down and "reading" this book, I can honestly say that it was one of, if not the most interesting, styles of a book I have ever seen. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this creative novel which I kind of consider a work of art. The way the authors tell the story is so fascinating to me. Even though a book told through pictures may seem confusing to someone, I had almost no trouble understanding what was going on throughout the book. There were some words to help the reader get the gist of what the story was about, but hardly any other words besides that. It is so crazy that I could understand what was going on merely by looking at pictures. I think a big part of the interpretation of the pictures was the pages before and after a single page. I would interpret a page by making as many connections as I could to previous information I had learned throughout the book so far. Then I would relate that information to what happened on the page before it, in order to complete the sequence of events. I feel that this type of book would be helpful to teaching children what it means to use context clues and have them explain their thoughts when interpreting something.
I thought that one of the best parts of "Chopsticks" was the storyline. It was so different than anything I have read before and it made the book that much more appealing to me. I loved that it dealt with the arts, music, family, and a young love story. The way the book told the story of the two people was beautiful. The pictures were artistic and natural. I especially loved the recurring images/themes throughout the book, for example the mix tapes, dandelions, the song "Chopsticks", Jo Ann Castle, and certain images. There was also the repetitive aspect of the ways of telling the story such as the postcards, letters, instant messaging, report cards, and notes. I feel that these repetitive ideas helped the reader make connections with previous information in order to understand what was happening.
My favorite part was the detail and quality of the pictures. I enjoy photography and interesting art, so this book was very fun for me to look at. The pictures and writing were so creative and it really entertained me. I could picture and understand what was going on due to the depth and focus of these images. I loved the way the book was put together.
I agree with you that this book was a "work of art" because it was definitely different from anything else and very artistic. However, I was not as big of a fan as you were. I think this is because the week before I read a similar style of book in another class and was left confused just like this book. I think this would be a good book to have young readers write their own stories to.
ReplyDeleteKarina- what was the title of the other book? great idea to have kids write in this style.. requires you have a sense of storyline to manipulate time/information like this.. or does it?
ReplyDeleteMarisa- I love it too.. can't wait to chat about it in class.