Here is my post for this week!
THE GIZMO
The novel called the Gizmo by Paul Jenings is about a young
boy who is pressured into stealing something from the local fair. He steals the
Gizmo from a stall and brings it to show his friend, Floggit. The Gizmo turns
out to be magical because the boy cannot return it or throw it away, because
every time he tries it magically comes back to him. Also, when the Gizmo is
turned on, it swaps his clothing to the person nearest to him. After swapping
clothing with various characters he finally ends up near Floggit, who then
steals the Gizmo from him. As a result, he gets Floggits clothes and the Gizmo
now belongs to Floggit. The boy decides that he will return the clothes back to
Floggit the next day because he does not want to be a thief.
The language in this book is designed for older or more
advanced readers. It is very descriptive and detailed. Deep literacy is used in
this novel to describe emotions and experiences. For example, in The Gizmo, the
main character describes what he is feeling by relating it to an object.
‘I feel like a worm. A worm of toothpaste that has been
squeezed out of the tube and can’t get back in’
Paul Jennings purposely uses this type of descriptive
language so it cam be visualised and understood better by the reader.
The main theme of ‘The Gizmo’ is the quest. In this story,
the main character’s quest is to somehow get rid of the Gizmo that always finds
its way back to him. This story also has
humour intertwined with the main characters thoughts and the situations he is
put in, but as it is not associated directly with the story line, it cannot be
considered a main theme.
CLANCY THE COURAGEOUS COW
‘Clancy the Courageous Cow’ by Lachie Hume is a picture book
about a cow that felt alone because he looked different from the other cows. They
treated him differently and he felt like he would never fit in. the story is
about how he uses his differences to his advantage and overcomes what other were
saying about him. He finds another cow that is different in another way and they
bond and become best friends.
This book teaches that being different is not a bad thing
and that we need to accept who we are. The text is very descriptive and is
linked to the images quite thoroughly, but the images completely rely on the
text to tell the story. Many descriptive words are used to compliment the
storyline also.
The story line for ‘Clancy the Courageous Cow’ has the
common introduction, complication and resolution structure and there is a happy
ending where everything works out at the end.
MAEBELLE’S HAT
‘Maebelle’s Hat’ by Rita Hestand is set in a farmyard with farm
animals as the characters. The title and the front cover are deceiving because
just by looking at the front cover you think that Maebelle is he main character
and the story is about her hat. Instead, the main character is a duck called
Willy and the story is about a large storm moving towards the farm. Maebelle is
on a field unaware of the storm and admiring her hat, and Willy goes out to
search for her.
The text and the images are both needed to understand the
story. The text doesn’t offer many detailed descriptions of the characters or
scenes, so in order to understand the story fully you must read the text
alongside the images. For example, the main character, Willy, is a yellow duck.
The text at no stage described Willy as a yellow duck. Without the pictures to
guide you, you can assume Willy is almost anything. The images complete the
telling of the story.
See you guys next time!
Laura
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