voice Archives - Anastasia Suen

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!)

Night on Fire
by Ronald Kidd (Author)

Booktalk: Thirteen-year-old Billie Simms doesn’t think her hometown of Anniston, Alabama, should be segregated, but few of the town’s residents share her opinion. As equality spreads across the country and the Civil Rights Movement gathers momentum, Billie can’t help but feel stuck–and helpless–in a stubborn town too set in its ways to realize that the world is passing it by. So when Billie learns that the Freedom Riders, a group of peace activists riding interstate buses to protest segregation, will be traveling through Anniston on their way to Montgomery, she thinks that maybe change is finally coming and her quiet little town will shed itself of its antiquated views. But what starts as a series of angry grumbles soon turns to brutality as Anniston residents show just how deep their racism runs.

The Freedom Riders will resume their ride to Montgomery, and Billie is now faced with a choice: stand idly by in silence or take a stand for what she believes in. Through her own decisions and actions and a few unlikely friendships, Billie is about to come to grips with the deep-seated prejudice of those she once thought she knew, and with her own inherent racism that she didn’t even know she had.

Snippet: One day in the spring of 1961, my street was the center of the world.

People read about it in newspapers and watched it on TV. They heard about it on NBC, the BBC, and Radio Moscow. The president held meetings. The FBI investigated.

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Traits: Voice The opening line of this young adult novel makes it clear that story is being told in first person.

One day in the spring of 1961, my street was the center of the world.

The words “I,” “me,” and “my” are the clues we need to figure out that a story is being told by a first person narrator–and this story takes place on:

my street

This opening sentence stands alone as the first paragraph. The four sentences in the second paragraph fill in the details. They back up the narrator’s claims.

People read about it in newspapers and watched it on TV. They heard about it on NBC, the BBC, and Radio Moscow. The president held meetings. The FBI investigated.

The words “I” or “me” or “my” are not in the second paragraph, but that doesn’t change the voice of the story. Thirteen-year-old Billie Simms is the narrator and she is telling her story.

Story characters use the words “I,” “me,” and “my” in their dialogue, but this is NOT dialogue. There aren’t any quotation marks in this excerpt. Billie is not talking to another story character. These words are not spoken aloud.

In this first person story, readers are inside the narrator’s mind. We know what she knows. We see what she sees. Billie will be our tour guide for the duration of her story.