Patti GoodnowReseñas

00013016

SS
An illustrated version of an old favorite song. Sheet music at the back of the book

I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. I liked the book because the point of view is in first person, which helps connect the reader to the character and feel what they are feeling. When she said "I put my picture in the trash" you feel sad and embarrassed the way that she does. But I did not like the plot of the story. The conflict is clear that she does not like the way she looks in the class picture and she is trying to get rid of it. I thought the main idea of the story would be not to care about what you look like or what people think of you as long as you are yourself. She ends up keeping the picture but draws on everyone else's face to make them look the same as her. I do not like how she was only satisfied once she changed everyone to look like her. The idea should not have been to make everyone like you, but to be happy being different.

In my opinion, “Class Picture Day” is a great children’s book for three reasons. First, the point of view is written in narrative voice. The main character, a young girl, is the only one in her class to stick her tongue out on picture day! Writing from this perspective helps the reader to feel like they are a part of her story and relatable to the reader’s own school life. Second, the illustrations are bright and warm, which helps to enhance the mood of the story. The reader wants to continue because they are simple and easy to understand! They provide many context clues for young readers. Finally, the author has chosen easy to read language for beginning readers. For example, “The pictures came back. Amy is smiling. Richard is smiling. My whole class is smiling!” The plot is interesting and fun! Children would really love to read this book. The big idea of the story is to not always believe what others say! But if you do, there is always a way to fix things, while having a bit of fun!

I did not care for this book very much. In my opinion, I thought the plot of the story was too negative. For example, the main character was encouraged to stick her tongue out during her school photo, and she followed along with what her peers told her to do. When the picture was printed, she realized that she had been tricked into being the only person to make a silly face, and she was embarrassed. “Amy put her picture in her folder. Richard put his picture in his bookbag. I put my picture in the trash.” I dislike the way the story is written because I think it is cruel. Additionally, I don’t like the way the main character solved her problem. For example, in the end, she decided to draw silly faces on her classmates in the photo. I felt that this action was a bit vindictive, and I don’t feel that this story offers a very wise solution to the bullying problem, and I also feel that this book doesn’t provide a constructive lesson. The big idea of Class Picture Day is that it is not always smart to do what others tell you to do.

Although there wasn’t much to the plot of this story, I liked reading this book for two reasons. The first reason I liked this book is because of the array of multicultural students that are featured in Ms. Green’s class, as this is the type of diversity that students are surrounded by today. One of the main character’s friends, Amy, is African-American, the teacher is African-American, one other student is African-American, another student is Asian, and the rest of the class is Caucasian. This classroom make-up seems similar to that of classrooms today, which children can relate to, as opposed to them seeing a class of just Caucasian students in the book. Another reason I liked this book is because the main idea was strong and relatable to students. The main character stuck her tongue out in the school picture, thinking that her friends also stuck their tongues out, but she was the only one. She was very embarrassed of the picture and won’t even show her parents, but then she comes up with an idea: draw tongues on everyone! After she did this, she was proud of the picture and showed her entire class. The main idea of the story is to always try to make the best out of a non-ideal situation. This message is relatable to students and teaches them a valuable lesson that most people come across in both their school and social lives.

I would say this is a funny book for a second grade level. Young children do not enjoy smiling or at least I didn't when I was young. The way that teachers could use this book in their class could be the day of pictures read it to the children so they don't "stick out" their tongue. Many children will find this book funny! They children also could read it alone as a take home book to read to their parents. I have a connection to this book because in my preschool pictures I constantly would stick my tongue out because I disliked pictures so much.

Class Picture Day is a book all about the first time a little girl participates in taking a class group picture. Her friends told her to stick her tongue out when the photographer told her to smile, and she did. When the pictures came back everyone except the girl is smiling. Even the friend that convinced her to stick out her tongue is smiling. The girl tried everything to avoid taking the picture home. She threw it away in the classroom and tried to leave it on the bus. Each time the picture found its way back. Her solution was to make everyone else look just like her. She draws everyone else’s tongues to look like they are sticking them out. The illustrations are a wonderful addition as well.

The end of this short book provides a great learning opportunity for students. Teachers could read this book to their classes a few days before class picture day and discuss the way you are supposed to dress and behave during the picture. Young students really don’t know how behave in that situation and this would be a great way to help them understand what happens on picture day and how to behave.

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