Concept Books

The Dangerous Alphabet

Author: Neil Gaiman

Illustrated by: Gris Grimly

Grade Level: 3^rd and 4^th

Although the concept in this book, the alphabet, is geared more toward younger students, I think the way it is illustrated and presented would appeal more toward 3^rd and 4^th graders if used in the right way.

Summary:

          The Dangerous Alphabet is a concept book that teaches the alphabet. Each page depicts a letter of the Alphabet which is then associated with a word. The author and illustrator present this concept by having two children travel though a scary world of monsters, ghosts and goblins. The illustrator’s use of muted colors contributes to the gory and strange mood of the book. In the end they return home safely and every letter of the alphabet has been revealed to the reader.

Use of The Dangerous Alphabet in the classroom:

          I think a great way to use this book in the classroom is to bring it in with a couple of other concept books that focus on the alphabet. Students can then compare and contrast how the same concepts can be presented in many different ways.

Another activity is to divide the class into small groups and assign each group a couple of letters of the alphabet until every letter of the alphabet is accounted for by a specific group. Then, the students in the group write and illustrate a part of their own alphabet concept book based on the letters you assigned them. Once the whole class is finished the class will have created a complete concept book.

ESOL strategies with The Dangerous Alphabet:

When working with compare and contrast, it is important for the ESOL student to be able to compare the different texts and pictures in each concept book. The teacher can model how to compare and contrast in a different activity so the student can feel confident in the activity. I think the group work and being able to show comprehension though illustrations will also help ESOL students.

Read Aloud:

          Because this is a short concept book I would read the whole thing aloud making sure they whole class can see the illustrations as well. I would also real aloud one or two other alphabet concept books so they can compare and contrast the differences in their minds while I am reading.

Personal Opinion:

          I loved this book. I have seen the alphabet presented in concept books in many different ways, but never is such a unique and weird way. The illustrations in this book are essential as is the text font used.  As I read Neil Gaiman’s words and got lost in Gris Grimly’s illustrations, I was transported into this creepy alphabet world much like the children in the story. I also enjoyed how Neil Gaiman wrote the story in rhyming couplets which offers me the ability to teach rhyming to younger students and different types of poetic structure to older students.

 Babar’s Book of Color

Author & Illustrator: Laurent De Brunhoff

Grade Level: Pre K-K

This is a concept book focused on color, which is age appropriate for younger students in Pre-K and Kindergarten.

Summary:

          The main character, Babar, allows his children to use some of his paints to create their own works of art. The illustrations in the book are trimmed and shaped and do not take up the whole page, allowing the colors to really pop out. While they are painting, Babar teaches his children about mixing primary colors to get other colors they might want to use in their paintings. In the end, the concept of primary colors and creating new colors is exhibited.

Babar’s Book of Color in the classroom:

One lesson that can be used in allowing students to create their own colors is by mixing primary paints together to get new colors just like in the book.

You can also create a color/animal scavenger hunt in the classroom with some of the painted animals the Babar’s children painted in the book. For example, you can have the children look for “the red lobster” that Alexander painted or “the pink flamingo” Flora painted.

ESOL strategies with Babar’s Book of Color:

One way to accommodate ESOL students when learning about color is to have a print-rich classroom where the color is displayed with the name written out on it. This allows the ESOL student to associate the color with the word.

To make the art center more comfortable for ESOL students, a teacher could label the paints with the word for the color in English as well as the student’s native language.

Read Aloud:

          I would read the entire book aloud because it isn’t very long and the text is simple. I think I would stop and make sure the students understood, especially before the pages where the primary colors are being mixed to form new colors.  I would ask the students to tell me about the colors we already learned about and then continue reading about mixing colors.

Personal Opinion:

          I thought Babar’s Book of Color was a decent concept book on color. I am not very familiar with the character of Babar so I did not have background knowledge to make me emotionally attached to the characters in the book. What I really liked about the book was that the pages were giant white empty pages which allowed for the colors to really pop off the pages. The book is also very large which makes it great for reading aloud and showing the students the illustrations. The story itself was kind of standard and really did not have anything that “wowed” me. I think that I would look for more creative concept books on color for my classroom.