ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND

ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND

l  Author: Lewis Carroll

l  Reflection:

Before reading this book, I had seen the movie and the cartoon of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. However, the movie and the cartoon were extremely different from this book. I thought it was much more interesting to read the book than just to see the animations. Here were the reasons. The first time I read through the chapters, I could not understand the meaning the author wanted to tell us although I knew the words. This was because there were so many word play and puns in it. Like chapter 9 and 10, the texts contained “porpoise” and “purpose”, “sole and eel” and “sole and heel”. This was very interesting that could make me burst into laughter. Second, the knowledgeable author really amazed me. The author used many poets, science facts, psychology, music, and even recipe in this book. This made Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland became a logical and knowledgeable epic book in literature. Last but not least, the theme and the moral of this book were what really attracted me. In chapter 10, the queen said, “It’s no use to going back to yesterday.” This kind of meaningful quotes appeared so often. Moreover, the lessons Alice taught us were also worth considering. For example, the physical growth did not represent the maturity of mind. In conclusion, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is full of surprise and it is definitely worth reading.

TRUELOVE

TRUELOVE

 

l  Author: Babette Cole

l  Reflection:

The author used a lovely dog as a symbol of true love. This is such a touching story that it only used few words to express the meaning of true love. Besides, the texts are so closed and matched to the pictures in this book. Because of this, I could easily experience the meaning that the author wanted to tell us. What’ more, the author used dog as a symbol of love, which made me be in the same shoes. Because love is not a concrete object, the author used dog to make it more alive and concrete. Through the dog in this book, I could feel what love really is. Love is simple and transparent, but we can feel love and find love in many ways and aspects. In the beginning of the story, the dog made every effort to let its owner happy by sharing the things it loved. Nevertheless, its owner could not feel the love given by their dog. Even until they kicked it out of the house did they know the value of their lovely dog. This is similar to the situation that some people who really love us, but maybe they use the wrong way to express their love. This told us that we need to care more about the people who devote to us and who really love us. Only if we find the true love do we realize the importance of others. Only if we know the true love do we learn to cherish and also share our love.

THE PRINCESS AND THE DRAGON

THE PRINCESS AND THE DRAGON

l  Author: Audrey Wood

l  Reflection:

This story totally overthrew the original thoughts of the princess and the dragon. It really amazed me because it described the princess as an open-minded and brave girl. The original images of the princess were lack of power and obedient. What’s more, the dragon also changed its images into coward and lacking of abilities. That’s the reason why I liked this book so much because the author made a big change of the stereotypes of the princess and the dragon. I think the author did a great job for breaking the rules of what girls should do and how girls would be. In this generation, the thoughts of gender inequality become more and more important. The book is an example to clear the thoughts and images that everyone can be what we want to be. We do not need to care too much about others’ thoughts. Every of us are born special and worth living the way we like. No one can limit us to be in the characteristics of stereotype. Just like the princess, she did what she liked and had the courage to help the dragon. We can learn from her and find better and more suitable ways for ourselves to live. This book can also teach children not to fell into the trap of stereotype and help children to grow happily without being stuck in it.

GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU

GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU

l  Author: Sam McBratney

l  Illustrated by: Anita Jeram

l  Reflection:

This book is the warmest book I have ever read. It just used few words and some refrains in the texts, but I could feel a large amount of love in the detail of this book. The relationship between the two rabbits was so closed and touching that could easily make me moved and then thought of my mother. After I started my college life, I left Taipei and moved here, which was far away from my hometown. My mom and I have close relationship so that both of us spent some time to get used to the life without each other. From then on, we chat on the phone every day and share the funny things together. At these moments, I can feel the love between us. I could not feel so much before. I think it was because we are not getting along with each other often so I cherish more than before. I also like the time we express our love to each other although it is still a little bit awkward. We are like the rabbits in the book. We share the feelings, talk about funny things, care about each other, and importantly love each other. That’s the reason why I was touched by this book. It made me think of my mom, reminded us to cherish, and also taught us to be grateful.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

l  Author: Maurice Sendak

l  Analysis:

Characters- Protagonist: The little boy, Max
             - Antagonist: The monsters
             - The little boy is a round character. The monsters are flat characters.

Setting- Backdrop setting

Plot:

Conflict- The boy Max, who was too mischievous, was sent to bed by his mother without eating anything.

Major events- His bedroom started to become a forest. Then, he sailed the boat across the ocean. He arrived at the place where the wild things were. Max used his power and became the king of them.

Climax- Max thought he was lonely after being with the monsters. He wanted to come back and gave up being the king of them.

Denouement- Max came back to the place where someone loved him best of all. He found his dinner waiting for him.

Theme- No matter how far the distance is, do not forget to come back to the warmest place. The house is always there, welcoming your back.

Narrative Point of View- Omniscient Narrator

Style- Words are easy. Some words often repeats.
      - Most of the sentences are long.
      - It has few dialogues because most of the texts are told by the narrator.

Tone- Adventurous

l  Reflection:

The style of this book attracted my attention because of the monsters the author made. They were so delicate and so creative that I could hardly find in other picture books. Besides, the other reason I loved the book was its plot. Max went to have an adventure in which the wild things were. He even became a king among the monsters. However, he missed his room, his dinner, and his mother. Eventually, he came back and knew to cherish and to satisfy. This made me think of myself. I left my hometown and came to Kaohsiung. Sometimes I felt the same as Max. Although I lived happily here, I truly missed my hometown. The distance also made me realize the importance of family and cherish the time we spend together. To sum up, this book was both interesting and meaningful. It made me relax and reflect at the same time!

VOICES IN THE PARK

l  Author: Anthony Browne

l  Analysis:

Characters- Protagonist: The rich woman, her son (Charles), the poor man, his daughter (Smudge)

                   - Foil characters: Their dogs (Victoria and Albert)

                   - They are flat characters.

Setting- Backdrop setting

Plot:

Conflict- Four different voices came from the four characters.

Major events- The characters went to the park. The rich woman did not like her son and her dog to play with the poor. She even looked impatient and rude. However, the poor did not care that much. They just had lots of fun in the park.

Denouement- The rich children came home with a bad mood while the poor children took home a flower and used it to make her father a cup of tea.

Theme- Money does not represent everything. Happiness comes from feelings instead of materials.

Narrative Point of View- Internal Narrator

Style- Words are easy.
 - Sentences are long in order to describe the settings and the feelings of the characters.
  - It has few dialogues because most of the texts are the thoughts of the characters.

Tone- Didactic

l  Reflection:

This picture book had extremely profound meanings. When seeing the title, I just thought it might be an interesting book. Maybe it was about animals. However, I was surprised after I read through it. It contained several important meanings that both children and adults could learn. I listed two of them below. First, it told us that money does not represent happiness. We could see the rich kid in the story. He was so rich, but all the things he wanted to do were limited by his mother. He was not as happy as the poor kid in the story. What’s worse, his mother did not notice it. She just kept being impatient and rude to others. The second meaningful concept was that do not judge people by their appearances. We could learn this from the rich boy. He did not care so much as his mother. He became friends with the poor kid without teasing her dirty clothes. This is really important, especially among children. In sum, the book truly gave me a new thought about children’s books. Profound meanings could also be found in them. When reading them, we could learn the deep meanings and enjoy the delicate pictures at the same time.

GRANPA

l  Author: John Burningham

l  Analysis:

Characters- Protagonist: The grandpa
             - Antagonist: His granddaughter
             - They are flat characters.

Setting- Backdrop setting

Plot:

Major events- The adorable grandpa accompanied with his granddaughter. They did various things together, such as playing nursing game, going travels, having desserts, and so on. They looked happy when being together with each other.

Climax- One day, the grandpa could not go out to play with the little girl because he was sick.

Denouement- The grandpa passed away, leaving the little girl alone. She looked sorrowful because her grandpa could not accompany with her anymore.

Theme- Remind the importance of family. Tell the readers to cherish the people who accompany with you.

Narrative Point of View- Internal Narrator

Style- Words are easy to understand.
      - Sentences are short.
      - The whole book is full of dialogues.

Tone- Sentimental

l  Reflection:

This story talked about family and death. At first, we could see the grandpa played with the little girl. He accompanied her no matter what she wanted to do. The grandpa and the girl talked in totally different ways. We could easily realize the meaning the author wanted us to know. The grandpa talked in a soft and gentle way. He sometimes recalled the things that happened in his past. Then, he related it to the present. On the other hand, the girl’s words were pure and cute. The little girl might ask her grandpa some questions just like normal children. Although they talked in different ways, both of them always talked in the same topic. I thought the author wanted to show the real reactions between grandpas and granddaughters. Maybe the author also wanted us to recall our memory of being with our own grandpa. He did successfully. Many pictures in this book made me think of my grandpa. Because the relationship between them was so close to my grandpa and me, I indulged myself easily in the plot whenever I read them. I was deeply touched by the simple words and the meaningful pictures.