Day 82: Wonderstruck

A few weeks ago, our class finished a unique read that left us, for lack of a better word, wonderstruck (how appropriate).

When I first showed my students the book, Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, I heard the usual gasps and exclamations of disbelief. "Whoa!" "It's going to take us forever to finish that!" "That book is HUGE!" If you aren't familiar with this beast of a book, it's massive (as far as children's books are concerned, at least). A solo picture of it does not fully do it justice. And if for no other reason than simply feeling impressive for sitting such a large book on their desks, students love it.

What is unique about this book is that the author/illustrator tells the story using both words and pictures. If you have read his other work, The Invention of Hugo Cabret (also recently made into an awesome movie, Hugo), you are already familiar with this concept. Wonderstruck is intriguing in the fact that for the majority of the book, the pictures and the words are telling two different stories, taking place with separate characters, decades apart from one another.

Ben's story (told with words) begins in Gun Flint Lake, Minnesota in 1977,

while Rose's tale (told through illustrations) is set in Hoboken, New Jersey fifty years prior.

What I love, love, love about this book is all of the comprehension skills that students need to use to understand the text. Flipping through the detailed illustrations instantaneously sparks conversations amongst the students. The way Rose's story is told through pictures lends itself to great, effortless conversations. Students are asking questions, noticing details in the picture clues, making connections between Ben's and Rose's story, inferring about characters' emotions and actions.

Seeing the story come to life, almost like a movie, gives readers the scaffolding to help them to create their own mental visualizations. And all of these discussions come with such ease because there are no words to limit the readers' thoughts or constrain their metacognition.

In addition to all of this conversational ambrosia, there are so many strands of different topics that you can explore, visit, or learn more about from reading this book. You may have guessed by now, based on some of my previous posts, that connecting what my kids read in books to the real world is another one of my favorites. Readers can learn more about deaf culture, museums, and New York, doing their own research to find out more about the true strands of knowledge in this fictional masterpiece.

You won't regret adding this visual treasure to you and your child's must read list.

Happy Reading!
Mrs. Hartman