Chopsticks By Amy Rosenthal

Chopsticks

Amy Rosenthal

Scott Magoon

Hyperion Group CH

January 31, 2012

40 Pages

Picture book/Fiction

      Chopsticks is a book that I first heard from a literature block student in my practicum class last semester. I loved how the children responded to the book and the activities that she incorporated into the lesson were superb. Chopsticks   is a book about two chopsticks who are best friends who do everything together. That is until one of them gets injured. The injured chopstick encourages his friend to go out and have some adventures of his own and then come back and share the experiences with him.This is when the two realize that the time spent apart was a good thing because it just made them that much closer. This imaginative tale commemorates the wonderful bond called friendship and also celebrates independence.

     This book uses very simple illustrations. Acrylics with a flat finish were used to create the pictures. The colors used are very pale and the intensity is very low on the spectrum. Honestly I am not a fan of the illustrations. The illustrations are not at all vivid or bright. Every time I see the book I wish it had brighter hues and more intense reds, yellows and oranges. The shape of the illustrations are very simple and lack definition. The color does not change with the shifting of the text. The book is a great read. I just wish the pictures were more appealing for children.

     This book would be appropriate for children from about the age of 4 until around the age of 8 or 9. In a kindergarten and first grade class the students can be involved in a literature lesson. After the book is read aloud the class can talk about things that we normally do by ourselves and things that we normally do with our friends or family. A language arts lesson would go great with this book as well. Children can begin to understand the idea of plot, setting and main idea. I am so happy to be able to use this book as part of a lesson in my practicum class very soon. I plan on reading the story aloud to the class as a whole and then in small groups the students will be able to work together while retelling the story with a clothes line and pictures. Chopsticks has won an award for Junior Library Guild Selection. It is also nominated for many other prestigious awards.