The great thing about picture books is that they can communicate universal truths by crafting imaginative characters and putting them in familiar situations. The situations automatically become less threatening, even funny, allowing kids to laugh at some otherwise serious circumstances.
The Picture Book I picked for the week is The Very Last Leaf, written by Stef Wade and illustrated by Jennifer Davison.
About the Book:
The book is about a leaf that is afraid to fall. The setting is literally Fall, and the leaves on deciduous trees are meant to fall to ground. It is part of their life cycle. Lance Cottonwood, the leaf in question, imagines horrible things will happen to him if he falls and he keeps avoiding the inevitable.
Fear of the unknown is universal. Every kid faces it. Every kid reader will probably understand why Lance doesn’t want to fall. How Lance finds the courage to do what he must might help a kid or two learn to face his/her fear.
In this book, the author uses dialogue to advance the story. The other leaves make comments about Lance’s inability to fall. Lance talks to the evergreen, Doug. Lance’s teacher tries to comfort him. This week’s writing challenge is to write a story that uses dialogue, or talking, to communicate the characters’ thoughts and feelings.
What do you learn about the characters?