How I Learned Geography

                                             How I Learned Geography

Lexile Level: AD660L

            This is an online book read by Ed O’neill. This book is written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz. It is about a kid that had to move out of his homeland, because of a war. The kid moves far east. His family are living with another family, and they are sleeping on dirt. They do not have enough food to go around. Then one day the father goes to the market to get some bread, but he comes back with a map. Everyone in the family is starving and upset that the father did this, but when they hang up the map it changes the boys mind. He learns new places, and he imagines escaping to them. He drinks fresh water, and eats papayas.
Is this a good story?

            I think this is a great to read to kids because it shows a different situation in a different country. It gives kids a chance to look at a different culture and their struggles. I also like that this kid has an escape method from his problems. I think students can relate to this.

Did the characters seem real? Did the characters’ personalities and reasons for their actions match?
            The character in the book does seem like a real character. He has anger towards his dad when his dad came home with the map seems really authentic. The main character is also under a lot of stress from the circumstances he is in, so the anger and the escape methods match his personality and his situation.

Did the characters in the story grow? Where did we see that happen?

            The character in this book showed a lot of growth from being mad at his dad from buying the map to using the map to learn and escape is when the character really started to grow in the story.
Is this story something that I think could happen? Is the plot believable? 
            I think this story is something that could happen. It has a believable plot; kids often have to leave home due to unfortunate circumstances. Kids also find a way to cope through these circumstances using their imaginations.

            Literally elements in this book are personification, hyperboles, and detail descriptions. One personification that was in the book was, “icy winds licked my face”. The hyperbole in the book was “I counted zillions of windows.” Lastly, the author includes such detailed descriptions that I think it is import to point out, like “smacking his lips with such noisy delight”.
            The illustrations in this book are okay. They do not really help the story move forward, but they also do not drag the story back. I would have really enjoyed if Shulevitz would have included more diversity in his illustrations, instead of characters looking the same.
            A mini lesson I would do with the kids is have them pick a place on a map to write about. The student will need to find interesting facts about the place that they choose, and they will use these facts to create a small paragraph. In their paragraph they will need to include personification, hyperboles, and use lots of descriptions in their paragraph.

Citation:
Shulevitz, U. 2008. How I Learned Geography. Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books

Found at:
http://www.storylineonline.net/