We wish to thank Kim Frail, a Coutt's Librarian, for inviting the children to review a book for The Deakin Review of Children's Literature, and electronic journal. The Pirate's Bed was selected because it is current and we'll study the illustrator during our inquiry into art. The Pirate's Bed is written by Nicola Winstanley and illustrated by Matt James. The story line goes something like this: While a pirate sleeps, a storm makes the pirate ship crash into rocks.The pirates and parrots wash up onto an island, and the pirate's bed drifts away. The bed enjoys visiting with birds, dolphins, and hammerhead sharks, but finds the nights long, lonely and boring. It misses the pirate's dreams. When the bed washes onto a shore, it is collected, dried and given to a young boy. He loves the new bed and the pirate dreams he has when sleeping in it. When the boy becomes a dad, his little girl is given the bed, and she also enjoys dreaming of pirates and being out at sea! Moreover, the bed is happy to once again enjoy the dreams of others. It is still early in the year, and this was the first community circle the children have engaged in. After listening to the story The Pirate's Bed, the children individually shared what they enjoyed about the book. Some liked the animals included in the illustrations, while others enjoyed the action. Almost all the children were all fascinated by Matt James' illustration of the bed-it had eyes and a mouth! The bed seemed to have feelings: How very interesting! This book made us think about our own beds and why we have the dreams we have while sleeping. Enjoy the children's comments, they are listed below. Morning Class "I see a smiling mouth [on the bed]! It's smiling!" "Why is his toe red? He has boo boos on his feet." "I liked when the pirate found an island. I thought there was going to be a treasure!" "I liked when the pirate got a new bed." "I liked when the boy had pirate dreams!" "I'm glad the pirate wasn't eaten by a hammer shark." "I loved the palm trees." "I like when the pirate got a new bed." "How is that bed inside the water? Why it got eyes?" "I liked everything about this book!" "I liked the hammerhead shark." Afternoon Class "The boy has pirate dreams!" "The girl dreams about dolphins, jellyfish, crabs and starfish!" "I liked when the boat crashed in to the rocks...boom!" "I like when the bird visited." "I like those hammerhead sharks!" "I had a dream about a bad guys eye that looked like that!" "I like when the bed's eye peeked out of the portal. How did it do that?" ["The illustrator drew him like that!"] "I liked that pirate ship." "Why was there a monster [waves] grabbing the ship?" "I am very, very scared of this book!" "I like when the bed went back and forth, back and forth in the storm." |