Picture Book Stories
Picture books are not only fun to look at and read, but they're also super fun to listen to. Picture books often offer some of the best stories to adapt for story telling. These are some of my favorite to tell, too. If you have a favorite picture book, make sure to mention it to me, so I can determine if it's suitable for adaptation.
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Source Summary Cultural Origins Audience Adaptation Ideas |
Knuffle Bunny
Willems, Mo. Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2004. Trixie goes on a walk with her Dad to the laundromat. She brings along her best stuffed buddy, Knuffle Bunny. Trixie has a great time playing at the laundromat while her dad does laundry, and she’s so wrapped up in the fun that she leaves Knuffle Bunny behind! Half way home, she realizes her mistake, but being unable to talk yet, she tries to get her Dad to understand her distress. Mom notices as soon as they get home that Knuffle Bunny is missing, they race back to the laundromat, and they don’t leave until Dad finds Knuffle. Trixie is so elated with Knuffle’s recovery that she cries out, “Knuffle Bunny!”, which become her first words. Knuffle Bunny is an original story by children’s picture book great Mo Willems. The family in Knuffle Bunny, and its two sequels, are based on Willems’ own family. Willems’ family lives in the US, and the settings and events would be familiar to most of my audience. Because of this I would have to do less explanation and set up before my story. Knuffle Bunny is such a fun, exciting story. It has so much humor, and the events are very relatable for young children. What kid hasn’t felt panic-stricken when misplacing their favorite stuffed toy? Because of these reasons I would enjoy telling this to an audience of 4-7 year olds. This would be great for storytime at a public library or during a Kindergarten or 1st grade class’ first visit to a school library. I think the story would make the students at school feel at ease with their librarian. I wouldn’t make any big changes to the story’s plot: it’s so engaging and wonderful the way Willems wrote it. I would delivery the story in 3rd person and make a lot of specific delivery decisions as far as sounds and movements go. Trixie mumbles sounds to her Dad when trying to get him to understand her distress. Trixie would definitely need a voice: a babyish, gurgling voice. During Trixie’s distress, there would also be movements needed, especially during the part when she goes “boneless.” I can imagine flopping my body about. Finally, when Trixie is reunited with Knuffle Bunny and exclaims his name, I would hug myself, as if Trixie was hugging Knuffle. There are mini-stuffed Knuffle Bunnys available for purchase, and that could also be a prop. I think I would opt to leave it out, though, so the audience could imagine what Knuffle looks like. |
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True Story of the Three Little Pigs
Scieszka, Jon and Lane Smith. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, by A. Wolf. New York: Puffin Books, 1989. What really happened in the Tale of the Three Little Pigs? Well, it might not be as cut and dry as you think. In fact, the wolf, Alexander T. Wolf his name was, was just a misunderstood wolf in search of a cup of sugar for his dear old granny’s birthday cake. It wasn’t his fault that two of his three neighbors were pigs with poorly built homes that blew down as soon as he sneezed. Since he was raised to be a wolf who didn’t waste things, he ate these pigs. By the time he got to his third neighbor, he still didn’t have his sugar, and this pig was rude to him. Alex blew up, started causing a scene, and when the cops came, they threw Alex away, assuming he was about to eat this pig after he had already consumed this pig’s brothers. Scieszka’s picture book is an alternate telling of the traditional tale “The Three Little Pigs.” This is an English tale, and one of its first print editions appeared in James Orchard Halliwell’s Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales (1849). I feel like the original tale is safe and boring, and perhaps that’s because it comes from England, which in my opinion is a society focused on tradition and propriety. One adjective that comes to mind when thinking of Scieszka’s tale is “welcomed.” Even though the picture book was printed 25 years ago, it’s still fresh and a welcomed change to the boring, predictable tale of “The Three Little Pigs.” My telling will be much more in line with Scieszka’s excitement than the buttoned-down, droll original English tale. The audience I would like to have for this story would be 3rd-6th graders who are familiar with the original tale. Some might think 6th grade might be too old, but after having taught 6th grade for 10 years and knowing the sense of humor of a 6th grader, this would still work. I would love to do this during library time for these grades. I don’t think I’d make any major adaptations. Scieszka’s tale is so complete and perfect on its own that I cannot think of any major adaptations that would improve the tale. The only thing I would add would be some extra descriptions or adjectives for the listening ear, since the students wouldn’t be viewing Lane Smith’s amazing illustrations. I would not stray far from major plot points in this one. This would be more of a performance piece, because I would be very animated while telling the story of Alexander T. Wolf in the first person. I would appeal to the audience through tones of pathetic pleading to try to get them to see the story from my point of view and have sympathy for me. I will also commit to a lot of flailing around when the cops come to take Alexander T. Wolf away. |
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Source Summary Cultural Origins Audience Adaptation Ideas |
An Everlasting Dream
Mitchell, Margaree King and James Ransome (illustrator). Uncle Jed’s Barbershop. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Uncle Jed is traveling barber. Just like doctors used to make house calls, Uncle Jed would make house calls with his brother to give haircuts. He and his brother were the only black barbers in a large county. After cutting her daddy’s hair, he would take his great-niece, Sarah Jean, up on his knee and tell her his dream of owning his own barbershop, with real barber chairs, sinks, and a red and white barber pole outside the door. He scrimped and saved throughout his life to make this happen, he suffers through the Great Depression and still holds onto his dream, and he gives up all of his money to pay for an emergency surgery to save Sarah Jean’s life. He begins to save money for a third time, and at the age of 79 he opened up his barbershop. Sarah Jean, along with all of the people whose hair he had cut, was there to see Uncle Jed’s dream come true. He died shortly after the grand opening, but he died a happy man who saw his life’s dream come true. This is a story of empowerment, self worth, and never giving up on one’s dream. It is a story created by the author’s own grandfather and his dream of owning his own farm. In her author’s note, Mitchell also noted that she wrote this book because she wasn’t seeing an abundance of picture books with black characters in them for her son to read. I want the message of this story to shine through. The message—never giving up—is simple, and I don’t want it to be overshadowed by the large movements I usually put into my storytelling. Even though this story has its origins in a picture book, I think it is a powerful story for a middle school aged audience. I think because it has such a powerful message and subject matter, younger audiences might become a bit bored with the plot without pictures to keep them engaged. I would love to deliver this story to my audience during a Social Studies or Language Arts unit on Civil Rights or during a Black History assembly. The delivery of this story will be reserved but full of importance and weight. Even though I am not going to employ large movements or other acrobatics, I will use my voice and facial expressions to try to relay the sense of urgency Uncle Jed had to achieve his dream of owning his own barbershop. One major adaptation I would make is giving an introduction of the Great Depression before I start the story. I would be telling this story in third person and the introductory notes I would make would roll into the story of Uncle Jed. I would want these explanatory comments to transition into the story as seamlessly as possible. I don’t want the students to feel like they’re getting a dry history lesson before this story of an empowered man with a dream he longs to achieve. I would the story with a few reflective questions for the audience to ponder, such as, “What is the dream you won’t let die?” I would also have Sarah Jean be the first hair cut he delivers: Uncle Jed would pull her from the middle of the waiting line of customers and let her go first. |
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Source Summary Cultural Origins Audience Adaptation Ideas |
The Wolves in the Walls
Gaiman, Neil and Dave McKean (illustrator). The Wolves in the Walls. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. Lucy is sure there are wolves in her walls. Her parents and brother dismiss this notion…until the wolves actually come out of the walls. Lucy and her family flee their house and make camp at the bottom of the hill, looking longingly at their warm cozy home. Lucy’s family carries on as normally as possible while camping outside, but when Lucy realizes she left her beloved pig puppet in the house, she knows she has to get back in. Her parents and brother think this is ridiculous, refuse to go back, so Lucy bravely soldiers on to retrieve pig puppet by herself. While sneaking around in the house’s walls, Lucy sees the wolves making themselves terribly comfy and at home, and upon her return to the family’s camp, she tries to convince them to take back their house. At first they don’t want to, but they eventually agree, and it turns out the wolves are just as afraid of them as they are of the wolves. Lucy and her family take back their house, situate themselves again in their home, and when Lucy and pig puppet start hearing elephants in the walls, they decide not to bring up to the rest of the family until absolutely necessary. Gaiman’s story came after his wildly popular junior novel Coraline. Both Coraline and The Wolves in the Walls strong female heroines. Gaiman has been cited as saying that Lucy is based on one of his daughters, Maddy. Maddy had a nightmare one night about wolves being in their walls, and Gaiman created this story after hearing about Maddy’s nightmare. Who knows if this story had ever been created without Maddy’s bad dream? Because of this, I would start my storytelling with, “What you are about to hear is a true story.” This story adaptation would be great for grades 4th-8th. Gaiman is a magnificent storyteller, and with the appropriate performance a broad audience could enjoy this tale. I envision this being told during a class’ weekly library time, and I think it would be a great treat for the students—a nice break between work and before picking out new adventures to read on their own. It would also open up this age group to Neil Gaiman as an author, since his work is now being created for all ages. I love this story. It’s creepy in parts, all of the characters are funny at points, and I love that Lucy is brave and bold enough to go back to the house to recover her pig puppet. I also love that Lucy stands her ground and convinces her family to go back to their house. I would point these two things out about Lucy during my telling by adding lines directly pointing out her brave, bold nature. I want to make sure the kids realize how awesome Lucy is. My tones would fluctuate throughout the book: quiet when Lucy is creeping through the walls, loud when the Wolves are being brash in the house, and each family member would get its own tone, much akin to each character getting its own instrument in Tchaikovsky’s Peter and the Wolf. I also mentioned an addition I’d make at the beginning of the story, in my section on Cultural Origins. Telling the audience that this is a true story makes it creepier and will put the kids on the edges of their seats (hopefully). I think with the pointed additions of Lucy’s actions, the vocal interpretations in place, and Gaiman’s entertaining plot, the students listening will have almost as good a time listening to the story as I have telling the story. |
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Source Summary Cultural Origins Audience Adaptation Ideas |
Little Pea
Rosenthal, Amy Krouse. Little Pea. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2005. Little Pea loves playing with his daddy, Papa Pea, and loves snuggling up with his mommy, Mama Pea. Little Pea loves school, loves playing hopscotch with friends, and loves rolling down hills super fast. However, Little Pea hates dinnertime, because that means he has to eat…candy. Little Pea hates candy, but when you’re a little pea, that’s what you have to eat to grow big and strong. Mama Pea and Papa Pea do everything they can to get Little Pea to eat his candy, but everyday they try to get him to eat it, he won’t. Not until they do the ultimate in Parental Bribery: he will not be allowed to have his delicious dessert of spinach until all of his candy is gone. This story is a modern tale in health morality. Rosenthel’s work is totally uplifting, fun, and quirky. I looked through her website, watched a TED talk she gave, glanced through her NPR blog, but I found no specific info on what inspired her to write Little Pea. She has a zeal for life, is completely optimistic and enthusiastic, and I can imagine her writing her tale of Little Pea with absolute confidence that it would help many stubborn young kids eat their vegetables. I have already read this picture book to my young kids multiple times, and it’s helped them understand that they should eat their dinner food to get to their dessert. They also love the character of Little Pea. I would say that this story could be for young children, ages 3-7. Although that’s a broad age range, I think the “older” kids will still enjoy it, because it is quite humorous. I would like to tell this story during a physical fitness or health campaign within the school. Usually there is an assembly for such an event, and I would love to tell the story at an assembly such as this. I will adapt this story by adding an element of three. I want Little Pea’s parents to try a couple of different things to get him to eat his candy before they finally realize they have to threaten taking away Little Pea’s spinach. I also want Little Pea to share his frustrations with his parents with his pea friends on the playground in between turns at hopscotch and the swing sets. I will be using movements when Papa Pea and Little Pea play together, and I will also adjust my speed during the telling. I will talk slowly when Little Pea is struggling to eat his candy, and I will pick up my pace at the end of the story when Little Pea is frustrated and about to confront his parents about eating his candy. I will also use a little voice when Little Pea is talking and a soft, assured, kind tone when Mama Pea and Papa Pea are trying to coax Little Pea into eating his candy. |