Carl's Sleepy Afternoon, is a wordless book written by Alexandra Day. Even though the book does has some text, the majority of the pages are solely illustrations. To get the complete story, the reader must look at each illustration to see all the different events that are happening.
The book starts out with a mother and her daughter, Madeline saying goodbye to their dog, Carl. They tell Carl they are going out shopping to find Madeline a new dress and that Carl should enjoy a nice long nap while they are out. Once Mother and Madeline are gone, Carl leaves the house to help out everyone in town. He first helps the delivery man make delivers, then he goes to the bakery where he sees Mother and Madeline but they don't see him. Next, Carl goes to the vet to drop off the delivery from this morning and helps the nurse give another dog a shot. Then he plays with a little boy and his grandfather in the park and he gives an old lady some flowers. After that, Carl helps put out a fire and rescue a dog and her puppies. Carl then sees Mother and Madeline at the dress shop and Madeline sees him but Mother doesn't. He knows they are almost finished so he runs as fast as he can back home and makes it just in time. Mother and Madeline walk in, greet Carl and ask him if he had a nice sleepy afternoon.
I think this book teaches a great lesson in how to be a nice, helpful person (or dog). Everyone in town really enjoyed Carl's company and were happy whenever he came around. He was always there to help someone in need and you could tell people counted on him. This book lets children use their imaginations. Since many pages do not have any text at all, children can be creative and come up with their own reasons for what Carl is doing. For instance in one picture Carl is sitting in front of a book store where there is a picture of Carl promoting his new book on a big poster displayed the window. The poster says, "Carl's Back! With a New Adventure". Students can come up with their own reasons for why Carl has his own book and what other adventures he might have had.
Overall I think this book was a great example of how Wordless books let children be creative and use their imaginations while reading and looking at the pictures. The first thing young children like to do when they read a book is to look at the pictures. And now with wordless books, they have the opportunity to take the book in any direction they want!
Day , Alexandra. Carl's Sleepy Afternoon. Canada: Green Tiger Press , 2005.
I really enjoy wordless books for the same idea, that you somewhat come up with what you think happens. The pictures give you a guideline of how they story goes, but without the exact words it is up for even more interpretation. These are the stories that allow children to really use their imagination.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you stated how this book had something in it that every child could relate to. I believe a book that is relatable to children provides a common ground so the child is able to place themselves into the work, which is important for attarcting readers and getting them interested in the book.
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