Week 5 Activity - Book Review - The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash
by Trinka Hakes Noble
pictures by Steven Kellogg

Trinka Hakes Noble was born in 1944 and grew up on a small farm in Southern Michigan. She led a typical mid-western farm life that at times seemed to be touched by the unexpected that often appears in her stories. Her work varies from historical fiction involving main characters of the same age as the intended audience of fourth and fifth graders, to tales of folk lore and fantasy, to stories of ordinary events that are shaped by the unexpected. Her variety is achieved successfully by attending to the appeals of her target audience. The characters within her stories are easily related to by the intended reader.

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash is first in a series of four books. The books are written on a second grade level and the story lines would greatly appeal to the 4-8 year old age group. Each story involves a pet boa constrictor and the chaos it brings to typical events such as class field trips, gym class and birthday parties.

In this particular book, the story is written as a narrative between a second grader and her mother. The dialogue between her and her mother (the pulling teeth kind of conversation parents often have with their children about their school day) is authentically written. As the mother tries to get more information out of her daughter, the events seem to become more and more absurd. During the conversation, the mother becomes increasingly concerned where as the daughter continues the conversation in a matter-of-fact way.

This story could be used for other objectives such as cause and effect, visualization, sequence of events, and point of view.


Rubric for Identifying Great Picture Books
Complexity  -  2  
Content depth  -  2
Amount of text per page; length of book  -  2
Multidimensional characters  -  2
Interesting language  -  2
Visual appeal  -  2
Opportunities for connections  -  2
Multicultural representation  -  1 
Significance of the theme  -  2
Creative treatment of the topic  -  1

Strengths -
Visualization - The illustrations of the text are superb and aid the students to vividly visualize the events of the story.
Interesting language - The story is told as a dialogue between a second grader and her mother and is written in a way that is authentic.

Weaknesses -
Multicultural representation - This story takes place on a field trip to a farm. Without the accompanied illustrations students within an urban setting may not visualize the story the same as students in a rural setting. For example - Wash being hung out on a clothesline probably isn't a typical scenario in today's urban setting.
Creative treatment of the topic - The story line is told in a straight forward matter of fact manner which leads to the humor of it.

http://www.trinkahakesnoble.com/bio.html