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Picture Books for Older Readers
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From: LesleyFran at aol.com <LesleyFran>
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 1997 21:52:04 -0500 (EST)
Both the historical fiction and now the picture books for older children are giving me great ideas. I'd like to add Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocenti to that list of World War II picture books for older children. Very powerful and back in print. Some of what I have found in it:
a. The title refers to the former underground German youth peace organization known as the White Rose.
b. On the cover we see returning troops, looking exhausted and with blood seeping through their bandages, reflected in Rose Blanche's window; she pushes the curtain aside, wide-eyed, trying to understand what nobody will explain to her. She embodies innocence.
If you look on the first page: people cheering the troops passing through the town on their way to the front line. Trumpets blare, civilians and young soldiers smile, enthusiastic children wave swastika flags. Rose Blanche is one of those children. Notice where the red appears.
When winter comes (people now have coats on). More convoys, tanks, trucks, and armored cars move through the streets. Altho the flags are gone, slogans are still on the brick walls. As the war drags on, the convoys become tedious; the faces, dull; people are standing in line for bread.
The story begins in first-person narration. "My name is Rose Blanche."
But in the middle of the story the narration style switches to 3rd person because she doesn't survive. "Rose Blanche was getting thinner." This sudden change of viewpoint makes us feel tension - foreshadowing.
Rose Blanche never breaks the silence. There is no one she would trust
- everyone watches everyone else. I have pages of notes on this book. Every time I read it or any of my students read it, we find something new.
Also Eve Bunting's Terrible Things is excellent to use with a holocaust unit.
Received on Thu 06 Nov 1997 08:52:04 PM CST
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 1997 21:52:04 -0500 (EST)
Both the historical fiction and now the picture books for older children are giving me great ideas. I'd like to add Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocenti to that list of World War II picture books for older children. Very powerful and back in print. Some of what I have found in it:
a. The title refers to the former underground German youth peace organization known as the White Rose.
b. On the cover we see returning troops, looking exhausted and with blood seeping through their bandages, reflected in Rose Blanche's window; she pushes the curtain aside, wide-eyed, trying to understand what nobody will explain to her. She embodies innocence.
If you look on the first page: people cheering the troops passing through the town on their way to the front line. Trumpets blare, civilians and young soldiers smile, enthusiastic children wave swastika flags. Rose Blanche is one of those children. Notice where the red appears.
When winter comes (people now have coats on). More convoys, tanks, trucks, and armored cars move through the streets. Altho the flags are gone, slogans are still on the brick walls. As the war drags on, the convoys become tedious; the faces, dull; people are standing in line for bread.
The story begins in first-person narration. "My name is Rose Blanche."
But in the middle of the story the narration style switches to 3rd person because she doesn't survive. "Rose Blanche was getting thinner." This sudden change of viewpoint makes us feel tension - foreshadowing.
Rose Blanche never breaks the silence. There is no one she would trust
- everyone watches everyone else. I have pages of notes on this book. Every time I read it or any of my students read it, we find something new.
Also Eve Bunting's Terrible Things is excellent to use with a holocaust unit.
Received on Thu 06 Nov 1997 08:52:04 PM CST
