Van Allsburg, C. Jumanji. (1981). Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston.
Age Level : 6-10
Genre: This is a picture storybook because the pictures of the book occur on every other page and help illustrate what is happening in the story.
The picture book and Caldecott medal winner, Jumanji is a story that I came across often as I grew up, and one I remember even becoming a film; however, I had never sat down to actually read it or even watch the film. I was familiar with Chris Van Allsburg as the writer of The Polar Express and I have cherished the book for many years. Now I know the author as the writer of Jumanji. The book is very exciting and would appeal to many students ages 6-10 and even older and as a teacher, I would love to share this book with my students.
Jumanji is written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg. It is a story about two children, Peter and Judy who are left alone for the day at their home. After boredom strikes, the children decide to go outside to the park to play. Lying at the foot of a tree, they find a long thin box with a game inside. On the box is written Jumanji. Peter is sure the game has been left because it is so boring, but Judy convinces him to take it home and play it. Once they open the game and read the instructions, they are sure it is to be boring, but with each roll of the dice, the events of the board game come to life in their home. Van Allsburg uses the element of suspense to keep us turning the page to find out what each space on the board game will bring. The story teaches us that sometimes, things are not always as they seem and we should look more carefully before making decisions.
Van Allsburg also illustrates this book. The illustrations are very realistic and are completely in black and white. As I was reading, I wondered why the author decided to use all black and white for such an exciting story. I believe that the black and white illustrations add intrigue to the pages and contradict the excitement of the story’s plot. Each illustration is on the right hand side of the page, while the text is on the left. Each picture illustrates what the text is saying.
As a preschool teacher, reading books aloud is encouraged and I have attended a few trainings on just this strategy of introducing books. These strategies for reading books aloud can be used with any and all books for all ages. One strategy that I have found useful in the classroom and help me read aloud and help my students think and comprehend the story, is an acronym: CROWD. It involves using strategy questions throughout the book and labeling the places you would ask the questions with post-it notes. This would be a very good strategy for Jumanji so that students who are hearing the book being read to them are thinking about the story in different ways. C stands for “Completion” which involves leaving out words or phrases and letting students fill in the blanks. R stands for “Recall.” This is asking students to tell you what just happened on the page you read. O stands for “Open-ended” which is asking students something like: “Do you have a game at home that you like to play?”, or “What do you do when you are bored (big questions)? W stands for “Wh-questions” that you would ask students about the story. D stands for “Distancing” which involves asking a question that relates the story to the students’ own lives. Using this comprehension strategy would help the students understand the story better and get the Big Questions about the story in as you read.
Websites for more about using Jumanji in the classroom:
You would use this comprehension strategy at the end of reading the story, correct?
ReplyDeleteI think it might be used after reading the story aloud a few times. The kids would be more familiar with it and they would be able to answer the questions.
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