Wonderstruck

Title: Wonderstruck
Author and Illustrator: Brian Selznick

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publication Date: September 2011

Genre/Format: Historical Fiction/[Graphic] Novel

Summary: In this dual story told in words and pictures, Brian Selznick tells the story of two deaf children. One in 1927, Rose is trapped in her home and just wants to be free. One in 1977, Ben has just lost his mother and has recently become deaf from a lightning strike. Both looking for a parent, acceptance and a true home. Wonderstruck follows the two characters who live 50 years apart, but have both lost a mother- one is dead, one is not but still gone. Both of the characters want more than anything to find somewhere where they belong. So, both run away to New York City to try to find what they are looking for.

What I Think: Anyone who has read Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick knows how beautiful his work (both his words and art) is and Wonderstruck continues the tradition he set with his first novel. It always amazes me how Brian Selznick can tell a story completely through pictures, but yet the message is as deep and clear as the story he tells with words. Just like Hugo Cabret, Wonderstruck has a very good chance at winning the Caldecott because of its beauty. Once again, I wish that Selznick's book fit the Newbery criteria, because it is good enough for that award as well.

Lastly, three things- 1) I didn't think Brian Selznick could compete with Hugo Cabret, but Wonderstruck does and it may even be better! 2) Dedicated to Maruice Sendack and feels as magical as one of his books. 3) As you read look for allusions to Konigsburg's Basil E. Frankweiler that Selznick mentions in his author notes. I am definitely going to reread both books and look for them!

Read Together: Grades 3 - 8

Read Alone: Grades 4 - 8

Read With: From the Mixed-Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg, My Daniel by Pam Conrad, Call me Ahnighito by Pam Conrad, Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby

Snatch of Text: "But let us pause here and ask ourselves, What exactly is a museum? Is it a collection of acorns and leaves on a back porch, or is it a giant building costing tens of thousands of dollars,, build to house the rarest and finest things on Earth?

'It's both!" Ben heard himself say out loud.

Of course the answer is both. A museum is a collection of objects, all carefully displayed to tell some kind of magnificent story." (p. 97)

"The street was a riot of cars and flashing signs and people. Buildings climbed toward the sky on either side of the street the way the trees back home surrounded Ben's house. Dirty cars and yellow taxis paraded by. Smells he couldn't place bombarded him... Everyone everywhere seemed to be a different color, as if the cover of his social studies textbook had come to life around him." (p. 264)

Reading Strategies to Practice: Making connections, Narrating wordless pictures

Writing Strategies to Practice: Allusions, Imagery, Descriptive writing

Writing Prompts: If you lost your hearing, like Ben, what sound would you miss the most?; Ben and Rose both love the Museum of Natural History in NYC. What is a place that you could go back to over and over again?

Topics Covered: Death, Deafness, Natural History, Museums, Family, Friendship

Translated to Spanish: No