Thursday, July 21, 2011

Clara & Senor Frog by Campbell Geeslin

Genre - Picture book

Rating - 4/5

Age group recommendation - Grades K-3

The Scoop -
Clara is not excited by the magic tricks she sees everyday, but when she discovers the magic of art, she finds real magic.

The Story -
The illustrations in this book are wonderful!  They remind me of another Mexican artist, Frieda Kahlo.  The style is a wonderful and colorful introduction to Mexican art.  The story is good as the illustrations.  It is very realistic, with the remarriage of Clara's mother, and at the same time, it is very fanciful and shows how art can be an outlet for creative thought.  This book is a fun way to show kids that they can be artists and create what they see in their heads.  There is a possibility that kids would find the illustrations creepy or a bit scary.  The surrealism could be too much for some younger kids to understand. 

Educational applications
Georgia Performance Standards
VAKMC.2 The student formulates personal responses.

The teacher introduces the concept of creating visual images and making connections with objects and personal experiences.  The media specialist reads the text.  At the end, the students are asked the following questions:
  • What was the first thing/person Clara imagined differently from how it actually appears?
  • Describe the objects/people that Senor Frog and Clara imagined differently.
  • How would you imagine the shell/ice cream cone differently?
The media specialist presents several objects to the class - e.g. a pine cone, a brightly colored ball, a small animal figure (a rabbit), a piece of fruit.  Be sure to have enough objects for three-four students to closely look at one object.  Students then create an illustration of the object in an imaginative way. If the object reminds them of a person, the student incorporates something about the person into the drawing of the object.  If the object reminds them of an event, the student incorporates the event into the drawing of the object.  The teacher may choose the materials for the project.  Illustrations may be displayed in the media center. 
 
Clara & Senor Frog by Campbell Geeslin Illustrated by Ryan Sanchez
New York : Schwartz & Wade Books, c2007
Copy from Atlanta Fulton County Library

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