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A review by gymnerdreader
I Walk with Vanessa: A Story about a Simple Act of Kindness by Kerascoët
5.0
Annotated Bibliography Entry: I Walk with Vanessa by Kerascoet
Text Set: Kindness
Genre: Wordless picture book
Summary:
I Walk with Vanessa is a wordless picture book about Vanessa who is the new girl in class. The story starts out with Vanessa being pretty isolated from other kids, which is normal for new students as they are not familiar with the school or the other students. However when Vanessa is going home that day another boy comes up to her and says something that hurts her feelings. Another student who is crowded by her friends witnesses the event and is deeply affected by it. She spends that night coming up with what to do. She knows she needs to do something so she goes to her house the next morning and offers to walk with her to school. This simple act of kindness lets Vanessa know that someone is there for her and is essentially her friend. It is a pretty powerful picture book.
Personal Response:
Since this is a wordless picture book, comprehending the story is based on the pictures and how one interprets them. I am sure different people will interpret the illustrations in different ways, which is what I like about this genre. It really opens itself up to discussion because there are multiple ways to interpret the events in the story. Overall, the book is a simple book. It is not too difficult to understand. It is rather straightforward, however it is powerful and it teaches kids an important lesson: when you see bullying you need to do something about it and it also teaches kids that being kind to someone can make a huge difference. This one of my favorite picture books because of the message it sends. Too often when we see bullying we do nothing, but I am glad this book does not perpetuate the bystander effect.
Descriptions of illustrations:
Since there are no words everything is based off of the illustrations. So the illustrations are essential to understanding the story. The interesting thing about the illustrations is color. There is not much color used in the pictures. It is actually pretty plain aside from the characters, however the coloration also depicts the emotions of the characters. For example the background behind the bully and Vanessa is red to depict anger so the reader knows that whatever the bully said to Vanessa was mean and unkind. Another example is the background is darker around the girl who witnesses the incident to illustrate indecisiveness and sadness. The reader can tell that the girl does not seem to know what to do, but knows she has to do something. While the illustrations are rather simple color wise there is a lot going on and I am sure readers could interpret them in different ways.
Classroom Connections:
I think it is essential that we are using wordless picture books because they are useful for comprehension. They are also useful for ELL students who benefit from examining the pictures to comprehend meaning, rather than having to rely on the words. With that being said, it is important we are using this genre in the classroom. There is a lot that can be done with this particular book. Students can look over and examine the illustrations in groups and then write their own dialogue for the story. This dialogue that the students write can then be performed and acted out in front of the class, much like a play. This could also be done without the students acting the story out. Students could just write a dialogue for the pictures, which is basically adding words to the story. Teachers could also use this book to discuss kindness and bullying and what students should do if they witness an act of bullying. Teachers and students could both brainstorm ways in which they can promote kindness in the classroom. Then as a journal activity to sum everything up teachers could have students write about what they would do if they saw another student (like Vanessa) getting bullied. What else could have been done that wasn't done in the story. There are a lot of things that can be done because there are many ways to interpret the events.
Text Set: Kindness
Genre: Wordless picture book
Summary:
I Walk with Vanessa is a wordless picture book about Vanessa who is the new girl in class. The story starts out with Vanessa being pretty isolated from other kids, which is normal for new students as they are not familiar with the school or the other students. However when Vanessa is going home that day another boy comes up to her and says something that hurts her feelings. Another student who is crowded by her friends witnesses the event and is deeply affected by it. She spends that night coming up with what to do. She knows she needs to do something so she goes to her house the next morning and offers to walk with her to school. This simple act of kindness lets Vanessa know that someone is there for her and is essentially her friend. It is a pretty powerful picture book.
Personal Response:
Since this is a wordless picture book, comprehending the story is based on the pictures and how one interprets them. I am sure different people will interpret the illustrations in different ways, which is what I like about this genre. It really opens itself up to discussion because there are multiple ways to interpret the events in the story. Overall, the book is a simple book. It is not too difficult to understand. It is rather straightforward, however it is powerful and it teaches kids an important lesson: when you see bullying you need to do something about it and it also teaches kids that being kind to someone can make a huge difference. This one of my favorite picture books because of the message it sends. Too often when we see bullying we do nothing, but I am glad this book does not perpetuate the bystander effect.
Descriptions of illustrations:
Since there are no words everything is based off of the illustrations. So the illustrations are essential to understanding the story. The interesting thing about the illustrations is color. There is not much color used in the pictures. It is actually pretty plain aside from the characters, however the coloration also depicts the emotions of the characters. For example the background behind the bully and Vanessa is red to depict anger so the reader knows that whatever the bully said to Vanessa was mean and unkind. Another example is the background is darker around the girl who witnesses the incident to illustrate indecisiveness and sadness. The reader can tell that the girl does not seem to know what to do, but knows she has to do something. While the illustrations are rather simple color wise there is a lot going on and I am sure readers could interpret them in different ways.
Classroom Connections:
I think it is essential that we are using wordless picture books because they are useful for comprehension. They are also useful for ELL students who benefit from examining the pictures to comprehend meaning, rather than having to rely on the words. With that being said, it is important we are using this genre in the classroom. There is a lot that can be done with this particular book. Students can look over and examine the illustrations in groups and then write their own dialogue for the story. This dialogue that the students write can then be performed and acted out in front of the class, much like a play. This could also be done without the students acting the story out. Students could just write a dialogue for the pictures, which is basically adding words to the story. Teachers could also use this book to discuss kindness and bullying and what students should do if they witness an act of bullying. Teachers and students could both brainstorm ways in which they can promote kindness in the classroom. Then as a journal activity to sum everything up teachers could have students write about what they would do if they saw another student (like Vanessa) getting bullied. What else could have been done that wasn't done in the story. There are a lot of things that can be done because there are many ways to interpret the events.