picture book Archives - Page 702 of 713

Tulip and Rex Write a Story
by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (Author) and Sarah Massini (Illustrator)

Booktalk: When a package arrives from Grandma with a notebook for Tulip and a new leash for Rex, these two friends gallop to the park for a very special kind of walk–a word walk!

Snippet: “What would you like to do today, Rex?” asked Tulip. “We could read our storybook, or play pretend . . .”

Rex scratched his ear. Those both sounded fun.

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Voice How do you bring a dog character to life in a story? You have to make a choice. Will the dog act like a real dog? Or will the dog be a human in disguise? How your dog “talks” in the story will let readers know who your dog really is.

This picture book page begins with a question. The human child in the story is talking to her dog:

“What would you like to do today, Rex?” asked Tulip.

Notice the use of quotation marks. These words are spoken aloud. This is dialogue.

After the initial question, the child offer some suggestions:

“We could read our storybook, or play pretend . . .”

The quotation marks in this sentence tell us that it is also spoken aloud. What will Rex’s answer be?

Rex scratched his ear. Those both sounded fun.

There aren’t any quotation marks here. Rex is NOT speaking aloud.

But we know what Rex is thinking:

Those both sounded fun.

The third person limited voice brings readers inside a character’s mind. This is the perfect voice for a dog character that acts like a real dog. This dog scratches, barks, and wags his tail throughout the story. On every page of the book, Rex acts like a real dog.

At the same time, the third person limited voice shows readers what Rex the dog is thinking. This allows the writer to fully develop Rex’s character while following the rules of the real world, a world where dogs don’t talk.

Throughout this story, the little girl speaks aloud and then readers see what the dog thinks. The third person limited voice is used on every page to bring this delightful story to life. (Read it to see how Tulip and Rex gallop to the park and use the new notebook to write a story with the words from their word walk. Yes, this story keeps the promise made in the book title!)

Stormy Night
by Salina Yoon (Author/Illustrator)

Booktalk: When thunder shakes his house and rain pounds the windows, Bear is frightened. But comforting his Mama, Papa, and Floppy helps make the storm seem not so scary. Before Bear knows it, the storm has passed, because even storms need their sleep . . . and so do bears.

Snippet: The wind was whirring, the trees were crackling, and the rain was pounding against the windows.

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Sentence Fluency Picture books for the preschool age don’t have very many words. As Bear looks out the window on this stormy night, this is the only sentence on this double-paged spread. Bear looks out his bedroom window on the verso (left) page of the spread. On the recto (right) page of the spread, the story text is seen on the outside of the house next to Bear’s window.

Notice the use of threes? The storm is shown in the art and in the words in three different ways.

The wind was whirring,

Young readers can see the wind blowing the trees outside Bear’s window. That’s the first ACTION. Every action leads to a REACTION, one that is shown in the second example:

the trees were crackling

The third example makes the storm complete:

and the rain was pounding against the windows.

TIP: The use of threes in storytelling is a oft-used Western tradition.

Three is considered the perfect number to use in fairy tales, advertising, and public speaking. (Most stories have also three acts!) A pair is not enough and four is a bit too much, but give three examples and the story feels complete.