Book cover accessed from: goodreads.com
Scanlon, Liz Garton. 2009. ALL THE WORLD. Ill. by Marla Frazee. New York: Beach Lane Books. ISBN 978-1-4169-8580-8
Summary:
The book begins with two children, brother and sister, making connections to nature as they interact with the world around them (the beach and a shell, a garden, climbing a tree, on a boat, in a storm). The summer shower is a transition of the children’s connection with the adults in a cozy restaurant where they eat dinner. A closer look at the characters in the story is evident as the illustrator focuses more on the people we have seen in the background of previous illustrations. At this point, people of different cultures are together eating, working (in the restaurant kitchen), and end playing musical instruments in the home of the children who are the main characters of the story.
Critical analysis:
The characters are credible and their behavior is consistent with age. They seem to have a strong sense of self and a unique way of seeing the world. The plot consists of logical series of happenings and situations that are relevant to young children. It can capture a child’s vivid imagination in many ways that can enrich their understanding of the world. Connections are made by adults and children and all the things that are meaningful in the world. The illustrations move the plot along. In the setting he author indicates time through the activities and places the children visit moving from one location to another. As the children travel from one location to the other the illustrator has drawn the new location in the distance. The children begin their journey in the early morning and end at night. The people transition from daily activities and landscapes during the day and end with those associated with evening. The setting can be universal; the children can be anywhere in the world. The theme has deeper meanings that are gleaned subtly and implicitly through the understanding of how the world works and how people behave. It explores the themes of nature, change, and new beginnings. The style devices it features are imagery, symbolism, and word play. The features of sound that are part of the story are rhythm and rhyme. The illustrations are rendered in black Prismacolor pencil. [1] They complement the story creating a mood and a pace adding to the story design and layout as a whole. The illustrations move the plot along and depict many things that a child can discover by taking a closer look. How culture is depicted does not override the interesting plot and it does not embarrass or offend any audience.
Awards and Recognitions [2]:
Winner of 2010 Caldecott Honor
A New York Times Best Book of 2009
A Publisher's Weekly Best Book of 2009
A Kirkus Best Book of 2009
A School LIbrary Journal Best Book of 2009
A Parents' Choice Gold Award
A 2010 Indies Choice Honor Award
Featured in General Mills’ Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories campaign
Review excerpts:
"Beyond the literal story, the text and art together connote diversity and commonality, the connection between the local and the global, in ways that will be quietly suggestive but not obtrusive to kids. It's an idyllic and hopeful picture, and it makes its argument compellingly by rooting it in family specifics that will allow kids from all kinds of families to recognize bonds similar to their own. In short, it's a moving and accessible celebration of the poetry of ordinary human life." –Deborah Stevenson, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books [4]
"Scanlon's text has a child-friendly simplicity reminiscent of Margaret Wise Brown—‘Rock, stone, pebble, sand/ Body, shoulder, arm, hand/ A moat to dig, a shell to keep/ All the world is wide and deep’—around which Frazee's illustrations build a satisfying narrative. . . . The West Coast seaside setting showcases not only Frazee's affectionate mix of people but also her familiar skyscapes, glowing with color and shaded with horizontal lines that lend a sense of both movement and endless connection. While the rolling hills, criss-crossed by roads and dotted with trees and houses, bring to mind Virginia Lee Burton, Frazee's palette is all her own: fresh-feeling pastels that make everything look rain-washed, faded and softened by the sun. . . . All the World will win audiences with a sensibility both timeless and thoroughly modern." –Jennifer M. Brabander, The Horn Book [5]
"‘All the World,’ [Scanlon's] second book, weaves a sumptuous and openhearted poem of 18 couplets over 38 pages, all revolving around the title's singsong refrain. . . . Beautifully illustrated by Maria Frazee, who won a Caldecott Honor this year for ‘A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever,’ it's the kind of book that will be pulled off the shelf at bedtime over and over again." –Andrew Bast, The New York Times Book Review [6]
Connections:
TAKE A BOOK WALK
Show the front cover of All the World, pointing out the title, author and illustrator. Ask students what the children on the cover are doing and where they are. Have students share their own beach experiences. Flip through the pages and ask what’s happening in the story. Can the students spot the children from the front cover in other pages of the book? Have the students done any of the activities shown in the book?
*Understand and identify simple literary terms: title, author, and illustrator.
*Use prior knowledge to anticipate meaning and make sense of texts. [3]
Vocabulary Boost
The vocabulary below [or any you feel] might be new for students. Guide them in using either text or pictures to decipher meanings….
…from the text
|
…or from the illustrations
|
pebble, hum
|
moat, hive, husk, cob, track, stumble, flour, kin, harp
|
*Discuss meanings of words and develop vocabulary through meaningful/concrete experiences. [3]
Bibliographical Data:
Scanlon, Liz Garton. 2009. ALL THE WORLD. Ill. by Marla Frazee. New York: Beach Lane Books. ISBN 978-1-4169-8580-8
Liz Garton Scanlon Children’s Author, “All the World” http://lizgartonscanlon.com/All-the-World.html (accessed June 13, 2011)
Liz Garton Scanlon Children’s Author, “All the World” Activity guide: http://lizgartonscanlon.com/All%20The%20World%20Curriculum%20Guide%202010.pdf (accessed June 13, 2011).
Stevenson, Deborah. 2009. "[All the World]." Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 63, no. 2: 57-8, 81. Article Citation, WilsonWeb (accessed 14 June 2011).
Brabander, Jennifer M.. 2009. "[All the World]." The Horn Book 85, no. 5: 546-7. Article Citation, WilsonWeb (accessed 14 June 2011).
[1] Scanlon, Liz Garton. 2009. ALL THE WORLD. Ill. by Marla Frazee. New York: Beach Lane Books. ISBN 978-1-4169-8580-8
[2] Liz Garton Scanlon Children’s Author, “All the World” http://lizgartonscanlon.com/All-the-World.html (accessed June 13, 2011).
[3] Liz Garton Scanlon Children’s Author, “All the World” Activity guide: http://lizgartonscanlon.com/All%20The%20World%20Curriculum%20Guide%202010.pdf (accessed June 13, 2011).
[4] Stevenson, Deborah. 2009. "[All the World]." Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 63, no. 2: 57-8, 81. Article Citation, WilsonWeb (accessed 14 June 2011).
[5] Brabander, Jennifer M. 2009. "[All the World]." The Horn Book 85, no. 5: 546-7. Article Citation, WilsonWeb (accessed 14 June 2011).
[6] Bast, Andrew. 2009. "Family Circle." The New York Times Book Review 114, no. 45: 19. Article Citation, WilsonWeb (accessed 14 June 2011).
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