Time of Wonder

Time of Wonder

By Robert McCloskey

3^rd Graders

3/5 ***

This book is a Caldecott Winner, and so the pictures are what stood out to me the most after reading it.  The beautiful scenery pictures and landscapes are amazing.  As far as the story itself, it got a little bit long for me.  I think most students would lose interest part way through, so unless you read it in parts, I don’t think students would get as much out of it as possible. 

At the end of the book, you find out that the story was about the family’s summer vacation.  This could be a good book to use at the beginning of the school year to encourage students to write about their summer adventures and activities. 

One thing that was great in this book is the descriptive language. It has beautiful pictures, but the words themselves can paint the image in the reader’s head.  McCloskey does a great job of creating images and scenes; it almost feels poetic at points. I think this would be an effective book to use when teaching about descriptive language or how pictures can really add to the story; pulling out certain phrases to use as examples would be great for the kids to see.  But if you’re looking to read it aloud to a group of students, this is not the book I would advise you to choose.