What Happens on Wednesdays

I debated including this picture book as the young girl is preschool age; however, her voice as the narrator was so clear and the details of this one day so crisp, I think there is value in sharing it. The diversity, as well, is a bonus. Having an opportunity to share with my Clancy students what a day in Brooklyn looks like certainly does not happen with a lot books!
Curricular connection: Share this story with kindergarten, possibly first grade, students and evaluate how different and similar the narrator’s day looks compared to a day in their lives. The students can also continue the story and imagine what would happen on Thursdays.

The illustrations were really pretty and the author did a good job of capturing a little kids voice as she goes about her day. The last page was rather creepy, but aside from that it was pretty good. The only trouble was that not much really happened with it...

One of my new favorite sentences from a book, yet a little puzzling: There's a lady in the locker room who says I'm delicious, and I like to get inside the lockers.

very good illustrations and I like a picture book that makes me think about how silly kids can be.

I like how she remembers things like a tree where they once saw an umbrella stuck in it. And how a cat named Maria from across the street steps out and smells the morning.

REVIEW:
In this book, a little girl explains her routine on a Wednesday. She does a variety of things, such as playing in the park wit her dad in the morning, learning at school, swimming in the pool, and reading with her mom. The little girl describes her route to these places by specifically noting the buildings she walks by, and listing events that are associated with those places. The text, then, reminds me of a child's continuous stream of thought, as if she is telling me her daily routine on Wednesday without any interruptions. The pictures, which are composed of mixed media, such as patterns, and chalk are a great addition to the text because they support the child's routine.

MEDIA: chalk

GENRE: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
This show more picture book is a great example of contemporary realistic fiction because it is relatable to a young chid's desire for routine. The little girl tells readers what she does in a sequential order every Wednesday; she wakes up early, then proceeds to go to the park, school, the pool, and the library. Young children are keen on routines because it adds consistency, and readers can see themselves in the same place as the main character as they think about their own daily routines. In addition, the setting is realistic. It takes place in a city. The text and the illustrations describe the buildings in the city, such as the bagel store, the dog park, and the daycare center.

USES:
(1) This book focuses on sequential order as part of a routine. Students could write and illustrate their own daily routines. What do they do on a Monday? Is that routine any different than Thursday? Students could also compare their own routines.

AGE APPROPRIATENESS: Kindergarten, first grade, second grade show less

Summary: This story is about a young girl who gives us a play by play of everything that she does on a typical tuesday. She tells us all about getting up and snuggling with her mom. She describes waking up her dad and what they do, she describes the dog park and walking to school. She describes everything she passes on her way to school. When on her way home from school she describes everything that she did on her way home in reverse order as she passes each location. Finally she returns home to her dad and her mom where they have more routines that occur all the way till bed time.

Uses: I believe this would be great to show that routines are good and that in school require to have routines so that we stay on task. Another use would be show more to show that a story doesn't have to always be really funny in order to be a great book.

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction- This book fits this genre because it is all about a little girl and the real life things that happen to her on a normal wednesday. Everything that happens in the book could actually happen in real life to a normal family, it is realistic.

Media: Pencil and Wash show less

This book is about a little girl describing what she does on Wednesday's. She starts from when she wakes up in the morning until it's time for her to go to sleep. Her Wednesday's are always rountined which means she knows whats expected when Wednesday approaches. I think if one of her activities on Wednesday's would change she would be very sad.

Citation:
Jenkins, Emily. What Happens on Wednesday. Lauren Castillo, Illus. Douglas & McIntyre Ltd, 2007

Annotation:
A little girl describes everything she does on a Wednesday from when she wakes up to when she goes to bed that night. This little girl describes what its like to walk around town with her father on her way to school, spending half of her day in school, as well as describing the errands she goes on with her mother after she is picked up from school.

Age/grade:
I would recommend this book to kindergarten and first grade students because it is a realistic story told from the prospective of the child in the story. Students in these grades would be able to relate to this story and the child in it. This story is appropriate show more for these grade levels because of the realistic elements presented in the story. The story also reflects emotions the child feels through out her day. The length of this story is appropriate for children in these grades because there are only a few sentences per page, so children won’t get restless sitting listening to the story. The text and font are also of a good size for beginning readers.

Description of how to use book:
I would use this book in a language arts and art activity. I would hold a discussion with the class about what kinds of different activities they do during the week with their family then I would have the children draw a picture of one of their favorite daily activities and have them write a sentence about what their favorite activity.

Description of artwork:
The illustrations looked as though they were created using chalk. The illustrator used a lot of nice, bright colors of reds, oranges, brown/tan, and black. The illustrations did a really nice job of showing that this story was from a child’s perspective by depicting the size of the child to objects that she passed by during her day. For example towards the end of the story the child stops at the library with her mother and is sitting on the counter at the library while her books are being checked out because she is too small to see over the top of the counter. The pictures also show the child’s emotions, like smiles when the child is happy. This allows the children reading the story to get a sense of the different emotions the child is feeling through out the story. show less