Rhyming

All in day

Rylant, C.(2009). All in a day. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.










ISBN #: 978-0-8109-8321-2

This book shows the significance and value of a day. Oftentimes, people either take a day for granted, or they spend that day thinking about their past or wondering about their future. However, Rylant conveys the message that today is important because today is day that brings new opportunities, and today is a day that we will never get back. She emphasizes that the past is moving away from us like a ship on the sea, while the future is asleep. The author presents a day as a unique time and a fresh opportunity for one to live a life filled with different activities such as: planting a seed, watching the sun, bringing hope, being kind, making a wish, working hard, relaxing, but also welcoming changes that can disturb such activities. Cynthia also mentions that nature, too, is excited about a new day and the promises that it can offer. Whether it’s morning, noon, or evening, a day is filled with faith and belief. The spinning earth will soon bring the day to an end, so the author is provoking the reader to make the day count.

I find this book appropriate for the three to five age group because it explores the concept of time: what is a day and what can we do in a day? It also provokes the children to think about what activities are important in their day and why? The book does not have a lot of writing, but it rather has pictures that represent

different activities that someone can do during a day. 

The illustrations in this book are very expressive. The only colours used are black, light blue, yellow, and white. The illustrations are cut paper: using a X-Acto knife, Nikki McClure cuts the images that are drawn on a black paper. The lace lace-like images are then scanned and added colour by computer. I find that the illustrations make me pause and think about what I see. The yellow colour makes me feel hopeful, while the light blue relaxes me. The children would enjoy the art because it is full of little details that they can discover: the little bird hiding in the branches, the mushrooms, the seeds, the squirrel in the tree, the bee collecting polen, or the hidden animals in the forest. Personally, I was drawn to these illustrations because they are very expressive and symbolic. For example, a paper boat on which the rain falls symbolizes the past, while a hen sleeping symbolizes the unknown future. The plant stands for life and hope. I like that these illustrations provoke open-ended questions: "I wonder why the hen is most of the time with the boy? What could the black birds represent?" Children can explore these questions by thinking of their own life experiences. Lastly, the illustrations can bring back different memories that they children might have regarding the pictures they see: "I remember when I fed the hens at the farm." This can create open ended discussions where children can talk about their experiences.

Provocations:

In order to introduce the meaning of a day and the activities that children do during a day, I would place a long, wide strip of white paper on the floor in a corner of the classroom. I would divide the paper into three sections of different colors: morning-light pink, noon-yellow, night-dark blue. Then, I would bring different pictures that represent different activities and place them in a basket near the paper. The pictures would show activities such as: eating breakfast, brushing hair, brushing teeth, putting clothes on, taking a bath, helping a friend, reading a story, washing hands, getting up, or coming to the daycare. Each child would then place these pictures on the different sections. This will make them think of what they do during the day.

Presentations:

1) Telling the story: I would pause after each page and wonder with the children about the illustrations and what they see and what the images make them think of. This is not a book that can be read fast. Each page can be discussed and questioned, and different experiences can be brought into discussion. In other words, I personally find that each page is a place of wonder. As a result, I would chunk the book because I do not want to rush. I would personally talk about one to two pages maximum per day, because I want to really involve the children in this story. This is not a story about someone. It can be each child's story. As a result, I would make sure that each page is carefully explored and discussed. I would definetely spend more time with words such as hope, faith, belief, wish, past, future, and earth spinning. These are words that need the extra time to be discussed and explained. For example, if we stop at the word hope, I would ask them what hope means to them, how can we draw hope, what does hope feel like? Therefore, each word is a lesson on its own.

2) Felt story: I would make the main felt characters: the boy, the hen, the squirrel, birds, and the tree. I would buy the felt from discount stores because I also want different backgrounds for each page.

3) Since each day I want to limit myself to one or two pages, I would then, bring something from those pages. For example, on one page, the boy carries a shovel and then for another page a basket. I would, therefore, bring a shovel and a basket. I observed that the hen is most of the time near the boy. I would then bring a stuffed hen to always have with me when I tell the story.

Extensions:

1) Each child can draw their hand on a piece of paper. Each finger would then represent a day of the week. Then, I would have them draw on each finger something important or a favorite activity they do on that day. For example: monday-ballet class in the evening, tuesday-play date, wednesday-gradma reads me bedtime story, thursday-pizza night, friday-have a friend come over for dinner.

2) Learn different songs on themes such as: days of the week; morning time, afternoon, night time

3) Personalize and become familiar with words such as HOPE, FAITH, BELIEF, WISH. For each word, children can either bring a picture, an object, make a drawing, act it out-whatever means I can come up with in order for children to understand, at their level, what these words mean. This is an interesting activity because children can also involve their parents in talking about what these words mean. In this way, conversations are encouraged between children and parents.