Blog #14

All the World
Written by: Liz Garton Scanlon
Illustrated by: Marla Frazee

Beach Line Book

2009

38 pages

Poetry

            I chose this book because I had heard of the book before and randomly came across it in the library when I was searching for picture books.  This story is really a poem segmented down and written line by line across the pages.  The poem is classified as a lyric poem because through the pictures of the book, it captures a moment, a feeling, a scene, and it is descriptive.  The poem is about the world and what it is made up of.  It talks about characteristics of our world and the things we experience as people in this world.  The poem points out the world’s landscape, crops, plants, transportation, animals, weather, food, seasons, and most important, people.  The poem has a lot of repetition and rhyme scheme that makes the pages of the story flow together smoothly.

            The illustrations in this book were created using black Prismacolor pencil and watercolors on Strathmore 2-ply hotpress paper.  Also, the book informs me that the illustrator, Marla Frazee, hand-lettered the text in the story.  The colors throughout the book suggest calmness and tranquility.  There are many light blues and light greens used throughout all the pages of the book.  The line of the pictures is clearly defined and in black.  The pages are both double page spreads and single page spreads with occasional small vignette illustrations.  The text placement for the book is formal text placement.  The words are always underneath or above the illustrations in the book.  Also, the books’ front and back covers are a dual image.

            This book is appropriate for any age group.  This book could be read aloud to any age, but this book is best read independently by children in second and third grade.  The words in the book are simple and easy to read.  I would use this book in my classroom to talk about character education, poetry, and the different aspects of our physical world.  Character education could be able other people and the different types of things people do together.  This book would be good for younger children to start hearing more poetry.  The rhyming and repetition are key elements that will keep their interest.  I could also use this book when talking about the United States.  The book depicts many different types of landscapes, weather, seasons, transportation, and even plants.  A science lesson could easily be adapted using the book.  I liked the book because it talks about our world and how people are a part of it.  People make the world a special place. This book is a Caldecott Honor book, it a Noteable Children’s Book, and won Outstanding Merit in the Bank Street Best Books of the Year awards.  It is a New York Times Best Seller.