Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The Pirate of Kindergarten

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lyon, George Ella. 2010. The Pirate of Kindergarten. Ill. Lynne Avril. New York: Antheneum Books for Young Readers  ISBN 978-1-4169-5024-0.
2.  PLOT SUMMARY
Ginny loved school.  She loved reading circle.  But sometimes Ginny had trouble.  Things she saw moved.  And sometimes things she saw weren't even there.  But when a nurse comes to school to test everyones vision everything changes and Ginny becomes....the pirate of kindergarten.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The Pirate of Kindergarten is a wonderful introduction to differences.  Ginny appears to be just like all of the other kids in kindergarten.  But Ginny sees doubles and seeing a rabbit with three ears causes all kinds of problems.  The solution is a simple eye patch.  Which turns Ginny into a Kindergarten Pirate.  Her eye patch, rather than causing more trouble eases her way and allows Ginny to be "normal".
The chalk, pencil, and acrylic drawings of Lynne Avril allow the reader to see things through Ginny's eyes.  With double lines around chairs and moving letter, the illustrator effectively translates Ginny's frustrations to the reader.  Further, lending to the pirate concept, Ginny is always seen wearing nautical inspired clothing adding an element of foreshadowing.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(s)
  • ALA Schneider Family Book Award,
  • Volunteer State Book Award Master List (TN)

  • School Library Journal—Lyon's short, descriptive sentences set up the situation deftly
    Booklist-Even children who have not experienced Ginny’s problem will understand her occasional frustration and find it intriguing that one person can literally see the world differently from another. 
    5.  CONNECTIONS

    Read another book about a child with an eye patch:
    Julia Chen Headley's The Patch (Charlesbridge, 2006)
    Visit the authors website:
    Visit the illustrators website:
    Complete an activity from the following website:

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