PB 14:14 Day 14: BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS with "Wolf Camp"

We made it to Day 14! And we're still alive! You guys are amazing!

I bought this book for my son for Christmas because he loves wolves. And he's 9 and a half. And yes, he loves it, though I wouldn't call it his favorite. That would likely be Pokemon. This is such a fun little book.

Today's focus is Story Element #10, BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS. Isn't it fitting that today is the last day of the blog hop and I'm talking about endings? Yes, I did plan it that way. And sorry, but there will be a spoiler, or else how could we learn about beginnings and endings.

All picture books must have good beginnings and endings, but this one is a great example. Actually many of the books I've featured also have great beginning and endings, such as The Monstore, Too Many Turkeys, Shark vs. Train, Cock-a-Doodle Dance!, and Faucet Fish. So if you're struggling with a beginning or an ending, I would advise checking out those other seven books I just listed.

Title: Wolf Camp
Author: Katie McKy
Illustrator: Bonnie Leick
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing, Inc.
Year: 2009
Words: 472

The Beginning
Spread 1:

Maddie showed her mother the flyer.
"Wolf Camp," it said. "Put your child in the wilds."
Maddie was gone for two weeks.

PB 14:14 Day 13: CHARACTER with "Too Many Turkeys"

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I know, I know, I did CHARACTER several days back. It's all good, though. This book is just as awesome. I actually had a hard time deciding on which element to feature. Character? Conflict? Plot? Dialogue? Theme? They're all in here! But character took the prize because of the turkeys! There are just too many turkeys, and I hope you don't think that 14 days of blogging about picture books is too many days. Only one day left.

Title: Too Many Turkeys
Author: Linda Arms White
Illustrator: Megan Lloyd
Publisher: Holiday House
Year: 2010
Words: 1000?

I find that I buy more of someone's books if I have met the author. I actually met Linda Arms White and Laura Backes when they teamed up and did a Bootcamp course in Charlotte, NC in 2010. Side note: want to sell more books? SPEAK!!! Anywhere for any purpose - as long as it's related to writing and literacy.

So, who's the main character in this fun little tale? The turkeys, of course! No, really. Okay, it's either Fred or his wife, Belle, or their uninvited pet turkey, Buford. If you go by who leaves more of a lasting impression, it's definitely not Belle. She's absent for most of the story. Some people might argue that her garden could possibly be another character. It does seem to take on a life of its own throughout the story.

Summary: Belle has the best garden and the best yard in the neighborhood. When it's time for her to go away to her annual birdhouse convention, Fred is left behind to tend the garden.

But one day,

PB 14:14 Day 12: CONFLICT with "The Day-Glo Brothers"

Another day with awesome author, Chris Barton, and his wonderful biography of the Switzer brothers. Character + Conflict = Plot. I had a hard time choosing. Anyway, let's see what light I can shed on craft with today's book. Aren't mentor texts simply amazing?!

Title: The Day-Glo Brothers
Author: Chris Barton
Illustrator: Tony Persiani
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Year: 2009
Words: 2084

The first thing I notice is that this book has over 1000 words, even over 2000 words! See?! It can still be done, though I'll admit it is very rare. But this story needed that many words to tell it well. The funny thing is that it reads rather quickly, despite its length. I hope you all included your word counts with your books, too!

Today's lesson is on CONFLICT.

Conflict #1: This book begins with the simple conflict. "Even if they'd wanted to, the ancient Egyptians couldn't have painted their pyramids a green that glowed in the desert sun." And the Statue of Liberty couldn't have been painted a bright fluorescent orange either. Nope. Even Bob and Joe Switzer couldn't paint their house sunshine yellow in 1920. Those colors didn't exist then.

PB 14:14 Day 11: CHARACTER with "Shark vs. Train"

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Only 4 days left in the challenge so far to read, study, and share 14 picture books in 14 days. You guys are rocking it out right along with me. Awesome! Remember I'll make a master post when we're all done so you can come back and visit and study the posts again and again. Week 2 winners and the Grand Prize winner will both be announced this Friday, the 28th.

On to today's Story Element #1, Character. This book is SO much fun! And why wouldn't it be? Just look at those captivating characters! This is probably my weakest lesson thus far, but it is certainly, by no means, a weak book. Quite the contrary. Just Google the title in images and see how much other stuff pops up (jammies, toys, even watermelon carvings)!

Title: Shark vs. Train
Author: Chris Barton
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company
Year: 2010
Words: about 310 words. I counted. And included the "dialogue clouds."

Makes me wish my little boy was four again. He's 9 1/2 now. Makes me want to run out and buy him a train and a stuffed shark. The premise of this book is so unique. Two brothers (or maybe friends?) are digging through their toybox and find a shark and a train. One boy says to the other in the character of the shark, "I'm going to choo-choo you up and spit you out." And the other boy says in the character of the train, "Ha! I'm going to FIN-ish you, Mackerel-breath!" And on and on it goes...

Who will win?

Well, that depends on if they're... in the ocean, on the tracks, on a seesaw, or in hot-air balloons. Each "what if" depends on how they each react or would fare in each of those situations. But the thing that really makes it shine is the unique voice of each of the characters in the "dialogue boxes" (or whatever they're called). They're punny, right along with the illustrations. It's fun to imagine who's better at what. There are two adults on several of the pages giving scores from 0 to 9 on big scorecards.

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It's fun to try to keep up with the score. My children love to do this and always say that one or the other wins. Every time, we go back through the book and tally up the marks. It's a tie - every time.

That's all I've got for today. If you have read this book and would like to make some extra teaching points, please share in the comments. Thanks!

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