Encyclopedia Brown-Realistic Fiction

          Encylopedia Brown is a mystery series created by Donald Sobol.  The series is set up as chapter books, but each chapter is a different mystery to solve.  Sobol puts the solutions to the mysteries all at the back of the book so that readers are left with the decision to solve each mystery individually and then check, or read through the entire book before finding out the solutions to each mystery.  While the chapters flow and follow a sequence, solving the mystery at the end of the chapter does not necessarily guide you in solving the next mystery.  The print is fairly large and spread out so it is easy to get through.  There are a few pictures, about one in each chapter that support the text, but only give a glimpse into part of the text, leaving much of the action up to the imagination of the reader.

                This book requires readers to pay great attention to detail to catch the tricks the lead to the solution.  In each mystery, there is one mistake in the story that enables Encyclopedia to solve the crimes.  Encyclopedia’s father is the chief of police for their town, but little does the town know that Encyclopedia really solves all the crimes because he pays close attention to the stories and catches the inconsistencies that his dad and others do not.  This is an excellent series for readers who are working on paying attention to detail and comprehension as it encourages both through solving mysteries.

                In this book, the Case of the Secret Pitch, Encyclopedia solves several crimes through his close attention to detail.  When they pick up what they think is an innocent hitchhiker who gives Encyclopedia chocolate that can be broken into pieces, Encyclopedia realizes that the hitchhikers story about standing outside for an hour in the 90 degree weather cannot be true.  It is little details like this that the reader must catch to keep up with Encyclopedia and solve the mysteries.  Encyclopedia also builds relationships with friends in this book, but it also shows how he is sometimes singled out because of his unique ability.  This book also deals with the issue of gender as his female friend, Sally, is torn about whether to continue being Encyclopedia’s bodyguard, or become more girly.  The boys make fun of her when they find out she is the body guard, and this leaves her with a tough decision that you will have to read to find out what happens.  While the focus of the novel is on solving mysteries, there are many other issues that are embedded throughout that keep the reader thinking.

                This book is definitely an entertaining, page turn that will keep kids interested and keep them reading!  They will be forced to pay close attention and read very carefully so they can along with Encyclopedia solve the mysteries for the town of Idaville.

Poetry, "Pieces"

        

            Pieces, by Anna Grossnickle Hines, is an interesting collection of poems.  It contains many poems “piecing” together the seasons of the year and the seasons of life.  The poems themselves are excellent to both read and listen to, but like all great poems one learns a great deal from also looking at the page and not just hearing the words.  The words are laid out in unique patterns making great use of enjambment.  The layout of the poems often relates to the picture of the quilt with the poem.  Pieces, is a collection of poems relating to quilts.  However, this collection is not reserved for the young at heart quilters, the poems have great messages that can be related to quilts, but also use the imagery of quilts to extend the meaning of the poems.  While a quilter may find greater pleasure and meaning from the collection, all will benefit from reading it.

                The images on each page are of different types of quilts that correspond the meaning of the poem.  Along with different types of poems, there are also different types of quilts showcased on each page that may be of great interest to those involved in quilting.  But once again, while knowing the type of quilt would be interesting and beneficial, just seeing the differences between the images on each page gives greater meaning to the poems.  The images are excellent and are so clear that it seems as if you are reading literally from a quilt.  One of the greatest things about this collection is how it combines writing, quilting, and seasons to create poetry that makes use of all the senses.  The images of the quilts “pieced” together give great imagery to the seasons piecing together to make the year, or the seasons of life “piecing” together to make a person’s lifetime.  The illustrations would not add this element to the text if they were not so realistic.  Reading this collection feels as if you are reading text over a quilt in your lap.  The illustrations greatly extend the text and give more imagery and meaning to the text itself.

                One of my favorite poems from Hines collection is “To Each His Own” which uses the image of different leaves to connect to diversity.  Not only does this poem have great meaning, the word choice is excellent and is just fun to both read and listen to, “Some [leaves] flutter, skuttering, whuttering, audibly uttering whispers of sound.”  While these poems are great to expose elementary students to imagery, similes, metaphors, and other poetry tools, they are also very fun to study.