Franklin in the dark

Bourgeois, Paulette (1986) Franklin in the Dark.Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Kids Can Press Ltd.

ISBN 0 – 921103 – 31 – X

Franklin in the Dark is a story about a little turtle named Franklin.  He was able to do a number of things that all children learn to do as they grow up.  But his biggest fear was the dark.  Although his mother told him there was nothing to be afraid of, he didn’t believe it.  He went and asked some other young animals for help.  All the animals he met had something to help them with their fear. Franklin did not have the same fear as the other animals, so they could not help him. He walked back to his mother who wisely listened to him. She let him come up with his own solution without telling him what to do. Franklin told his mother what the other animals did and solved his own problem.

I would use this book for three to five-year olds because I feel they could relate to the story.  Most children have some fear of something when they are young and they could learn a lesson from this story.  The story has an imaginative setting of young animals talking about their fears and how they deal with them. The pictures are large, bright and attractive for children. The vocabulary is simple and direct so that children can read or be read to, and enjoy the story.  A word that they might not be familiar with is riverbank.  I would explain that it is the sides of a river and I would show the picture of it to the children so they could learn the word’s meaning.  There is a small amount of print on each page which allows children to focus on the pictures.  Also, the story is not too long as young children have a short attention span.

The illustrations are made from watercolours yet have many accurate details.  The mood they evoke is one of calmness, interest in the animals, and overall peace at the end of the story.  The children would enjoy the illustrations because they have enough detail or background in the picture to allow the child to make some discoveries of some other things in the picture as well as the main character. I was drawn to the illustrations because I think they are not too simple so as to be boring. Also, Franklin walks in the story like a person which I think may interest children because they can relate to him due to the fact that they walk upright. Since the illustrations are not threatening or scary I thought it will be a happy story.

To build background knowledge or provoke interest for the children I would ask them if they have ever been afraid of something.  I would give them some examples like clowns, sitting on Santa’s knee, or spiders.  I would listen to their responses for a short time. I would ask them if they think animals are ever afraid.  I would suggest they wonder about big animals like a lion or bear or elephant being afraid.  I would listen to their responses for a few minutes. Then I would suggest that they wonder about small animals like a mouse, chicken or rabbit being afraid.   Again, I would listen to their responses and suggest that the smaller animals might be afraid of getting stepped on or eaten by a bigger animal.  After that I would tell them that we were going to read a story about a turtle and I would ask them to tell me whether they thought the turtle was ever afraid.  I would show them the book’s cover and ask the children whether they thought the turtle looked happy or sad.  If they say sad I would ask them to tell me how they know that.  If they can’t tell me I would tell them I think that they thought he was sad because he doesn’t have a happy smile on. If the children say he looks happy I would say I think he looks sad because he is frowning.  “I wonder why he is frowning?” I would say to see if they had any ideas.  I would say that we were going to read to find out why.  I would also point out the turtle toys on the cover of the book so that they notice that he is a turtle so he has turtle toys. This way I could share my enjoyment of the pictures with the children.

One way I would present this book is with felt pictures and a flannel board. The pieces you would need are a small and large turtle for Franklin and his mother, a white duck, a lion, a bird, a polar bear, and a turtle in his shell for the ending. You would also need a snowsuit for the polar bear, a parachute for the bird, water wings for the duck and ear muffs for the lion. You would also need a table and chair for the dinner, two dinner bowls, a strip of blue for the river, a flashlight, and a shell on a rope for Franklin to drag.

The second way I would present this book is with pictures made out of thin foam with a magnetic strip on the back of them.  I would also need a cookie sheet to be the story board to place the pictures on.  I would use a small and large turtle for Franklin and his mother, a white duck with water wings on, a lion with ear muffs on, a bird with a parachute, a polar bear with a snowsuit and a turtle in his shell for the ending. I would also use a table and chair, two dinner bowls, a strip of blue for the river, a flashlight and a shell on a rope for Franklin to drag.

The third way I would present this book is with actual small toys that represent Franklin the turtle, a mother turtle, a duck, a lion, a polar bear and a bird.  I would use a small clam shell for Franklin to drag and to hide under.  I would also use a flashlight.   I would tell the story as I showed each object.

The fourth way I would present this book is with small puppets.  I would make the pictures of a small and large turtle, a white duck, a lion, a bird, a polar bear and a turtle in a shell.  I would laminate the puppets and glue them onto a popsicle stick with white glue.  Then I would retell the story as I showed the puppets. I would let the children take turns holding the puppets as I told the story. I would then place the puppets into a small ball of plasticine so that they could stand up and set them on the table or chair.  At the end I would let the children tell the story with the puppets and I would fill in the parts of the story that they missed so we would be telling the story together.

I would read three pages to the children and that would be the end of the first chunk.  I would ask the children if they wonder what Franklin is going to do. I would ask the children if they worry about monsters in their bedroom, under the bed or in the closet.  I would ask them if their parents tell them there is nothing to worry about.  I would suggest they turn on their bedroom light and look in all those places before they go to bed so that they don’t worry. I would read four more pages with the children and that would be the end of chunk two. Next I would review with the children to see if they could remember each animal Franklin met, what the animal was afraid of and if they could remember what the solution was for each animal.  I would show them the pictures again as they remembered each one. If they could not remember, I would just tell them. This helps keep the children participating in reading the book together and works on their memory to see if they are making connections with the story. I would ask the children if they wonder if Franklin would find something to help him not be afraid. Then I would read the last chunk of the story with the children. The last part of the story has Franklin trying to confront his fears and solve his problem.  I would read to the end and ask the children if they thought it was good for Franklin to find a way to deal with his fear.  I would explain that it is okay to use something to give us comfort when we are afraid just like Franklin did.

Activities I would do afterwards to extend the learning would be first, science, to learn about real turtles and how they live, where they live, what they eat, what enemies they have and what kinds there are.  I would use nonfiction books to show the children pictures of real turtles and allow them to come up with some questions they might have about real turtles.  I would help them find answers in the books we read together.  I would go on to explain how some animals protect themselves from danger, like Franklin does by using his shell or by using armour like the armadillo.   Second, I would follow up the story with an art activity such as play dough so the children could make their own animals and tell their own story of Franklin.  I would also have the children paint pictures of Franklin so that they could retell the story from their own painted pictures as Franklin is a fairly simple picture to paint. Third, I would engage the children in a drama of the story by using a few simple props such as a towel for a parachute, some earmuffs for the lion, a jacket for the polar bear and a flashlight for the mother turtle.  I would have the children act out the story of Franklin.  If they didn’t remember what to say I would just tell them and then let them speak the lines.  Fourth, I would continue literacy with the children by introducing them to more stories of Franklin as he is a character they know now and he has lessons the children can learn from as they are being read to.

Franklin in the dark on PhotoPeach