Eric

Eric is a picture book written by the Australian author and illustrator Shaun Tan. The story follows Eric, who is an exchange student within a house which is presumably in Australia or a western country. He is a little odd looking creature(this symbolizes the fact he doesn’t fit it very well) and he doesn’t see or act in the way his temporary caring family do. This leads them to believe that he is not happy. It concludes by finding that he was just different to them and that he did appreciate the time he spent there.

The illustrations within the book often vary in size, sometimes make them like photographs, has some black and white, and also on some pages just has illustrations without any words at all. They are far simpler than in other Tan books, but still connect well with the storyline. The language is simple also adding to this connection. In saying this, even with its simplicity it is still quite emotive with the words which are used.

The book follows the normal narrative conventions by having an orientation (introducing Eric), a complication (trying to help him fit in and make him happy) and resolution (finding out that he was happy with his stay).

The theme in the book is one of its great assets with the way it portrays belonging and fitting in. Tan does this through showing what it is like for an exchange student, and ends the book by teaching the reader a lesson. For this reason the book would be excellent for high school students if a social studies teacher was talking about belonging as you could use this to introduce the topic as it is quite engaging, relatable and can capture the reader.

The Echidna and The Shade Tree

The Echidna and The Shade Tree is a picture book written by Mona Green and illustrated by Pamela Lofts. It is an Aboriginal dreamtime story which talks about how the Aboriginals believed that the Nongra river came about and how the Echidna got spikes in his back(they were spears thrown by the other animals, as he stole the shade tree).

The language used is quite basic, and it feel like it is being narrated by a person, which is the technique the author was clearly aiming for.

The illustrations use Aboriginal paints and colours. This also would be good to look into as students could learn to paint in such a way. Having such colours and plain effect shows the Aboriginal culture which is what the book is doing.

A book like this is great when looking into Aboriginal Studies and even I learnt something from reading this. Culturally, Australian students should have some history about their background and the Aboriginals belief. This would make for a good engagement activity for primary school students.

Milo and the Magical Stones

Milo and the Magical Stones is a picture book written and illustrated by Marcus Pfister. This is a story about a land full of mice who live peacefully, but are constantly riddled with storms. After one of the storms the main character Milo finds a gold stone. This gold stone is the most amazing thing any of the mice have ever seen and they go in search of more of these stones. From this point the book splits into two sections- a good ending and a bad ending. I quite like books and any type of media for that matter that are set out like this. It is a perfect way to cover different topics. For example this book covers the theme of greed and how if you take too much you can lose it all. By seeing the good and bad side you can learn from it.

The book would bed aimed at students in the lower to middle primary age group due to the story line and very soft/cute illustrations. In saying that the illustrations are a highlight in this book, the just look so soft and happy, this would engage students. Also the gold rock is a shiny material different to that of the book, again enhancing the book visually.

The language used is very basic with little adjectives, rather focusing on the storyline and building that up. The way is does build up to the separate ending is quite impression however, by basically saying you have two choices, which allows the reader to see the resolution to each choice.

 

Stripy Whiskers

 Stripy Whiskers is a picture book written by Sue Inman and illustrated by Martin Impey. The story follows a green dragon who walks around the woods talking to tiny pink, blue and yellow mice. They talk about their colour and all mention their big brother. Finally after conversing with each mouse, the dragon runs into the older brother. The older brother threatens to eat the dragon and the dragon runs away and never comes back. The book ends by saying to the reader “Do not worry, the large stripy mouse does not eat little children, only green dragons”.

There is no real structure to this story, there is an orientation, some random events, followed by an sudden ridiculous conclusion. The language is basic, and would be a good read if not for the storyline.

Upon reading this story I was stunned by the ridiculous ending, I could not believe that is how it ended. This is a book I certainly would not recommend to anyone nor would I use it in my classroom. Although taking into account the size of the book, the simple writing and bubbly pictures, it is suitable for beginner readers(if they have nothing better to read).

Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz

Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz is a adolescent fiction novel, it is the seventh in the Alex Rider series. Alex Rider is an Australian teenager who is roped into being a spy for the Australian Secret Service after his dad dies a mysterious death, back in the first book. The series is based on the journey that Alex takes to find out more about his dad and uncover the truth. His spy duties take him on missions all around the world as he slowly uncovers more and more about his father he realises that he can't trust anyone apart from himself.

Anthony Horowitz is an Australian author who was voted Author of the year in 2007. His writing style for this particular book and series is a third person narration with the story only following the movements of the character Alex Rider. This writing style allows the reader to share in the discoveries of Alex and to know only what he knows. It is as if you were his side kick following his ever move. Although Horowitz does not use a great amount of interesting verb and noun groups to drive the story, he maintains the reader's interest by keeping the story moving quickly as Alex engages in reconnesense, sky diving, fighting, high speed pursuits etc.

The whole book is constantly filled with tension and resolution (conflict and resolution) as Alex finds himself in many life threatening or endangering situation which require quick thinking and actions to avoid. These consistent actions keep the book interesting and leave you wanting to find out more about where the book will lead too. Often Alex discovers certain clues in relation to the criminal organisation he is tracking, these clues slowly build up until the final climax in which Alex uses his intelligence to attack the organisation and shut down their operations. Some of the resolutions are predicatable however their is almost always a hidden twist in this series which makes them worthwhile.

This book is quite an easy read due to the straight forward language used and logical chronologically based events in the story. It is a book aimed at teenagers and young adults.

Redwall by Brian Jacques

Redwall by Brian Jacques is the ninth book out of twelve in a series called The Tales of Redwall. The series is based on a medieval time period but is based on a world in which there are no humans only animals particularly small animals such as mice, rats, beavers, badgers, foxes, rabbits and birds. In this book we follow a small mouse called Matthias who takes us on a quest to protect the creatures of the Abbey from the Scourge and their rat leader Cluny.

The story plot in this book follows the conventional shape in which their a range of minor actions and conflicts and then a major conflict/climax and resolution at the end of the story. In comparison to a book like Harry Potter and the Philosiphers Stone this book takes a lot longer between actions and conflicts and does not have a set focus for each chapter. This seems to drag out the story a lot more but is probably due to the author jumping from character to character throughout the course of the book to follow mini stories and quests.

The book is told in a third person narration which also includes comments from the author about how particular animals behave or speak. The author also includes many languages which are particular to certain animals and spells their speech in the ways in which it sounds when they speak it. For example a mole called Foremole says "Yurr moles, get outten loight. Let'n um dog at bone thurr". The books contain a lot of speech from the characters which allows the reader to understand how different animals interact with each other and the ways in which their personalities are reflected through their speech such as the main baddy called Clung says "Clown! Bungling buffoon! Get out of the way! Shift your fat little carcass and let Scragg take over."

These books would be likely suited to year 6/7 students as they are quite long and contain a lot of mini stories which need to be followed to understand the main story line. They do however contain a lot of good character speech which could be analysed in terms of how a character is represented through their speech.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K Rowling

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K Rowling is a classic novel read by both young and old that never fails to disappoint. In short the story is about a boy called Harry Potter who becomes a wizard, goes to wizard school, meets his two best friends and ultimately defeats his arch enemy Voldemort.

Each chapter in this book has a main action or conflict which is focuses on keeping the book exciting and enjoyable throughout. The reader does not need to wait long before another mystery reveals itself. Over the course of the whole book each minor conflict or action builds and builds towards the major conflict (character vs character) at the end of the book in which Harry Potter confronts Voldemort (the dark lord who killed his parents). Harry Potter defeats Voldemort and the story resolves with Harry Potter being the hero and everyone else being safe and well.

The story is written in a third person narration with the author including mass amounts of details as to what the characters are thinking and feeling which allows the reader to really get to know the characters and share a close intimacy with them. The author's attention to detail for every sentence and every word is what makes Harry Potter such an enjoyable read.

An interesting feature of this book is when the author includes letters or notes within the text as the characters would see them in the story. An example of this is where Harry Potter has got his shopping list for the items he needs to buy from Diagon Alley. As a reader we actually get to see the list of items he needs to buy including the title and little side notes of information.  Using this feature exposes readers to non conventional ways of writing and reading which they would not normally encounter within a fiction novel.

This book could be read by students from year 4 and up.