Wonderstruck by Brian Selznik
realistic fantasy 608 pages – don’t be frightened by the number. Each page will make you think and wonder, what else would a good book do?
Have you ever had a hard time explaining how or why you like a book? I have vivid memories of past students dragging their fingers across their faces, “Ooooohhh, re – flec – tion! Ugh! Why do we always have to explain it all?” Or this year, a student wrote, “It is funny. It is cool.” And then dropped his head to the table, “Ahh…that’s not enough.” I have a similar feeling – how can I possibly explain the wonders of Wonderstruck?
I want lots of kids to read it. I want to talk to them about how it is written and what happens when the two stories collide. I wonder what readers will love most? The Cabinet of Wonders? Learning how museum displays are created? Deaf culture through time? Thinking about memories, what they mean and how they return? Will they love the quote from the book “Wonderstruck” within the book Wonderstruck – “Some collections grew beyond the confines of a single cabinet and took over entire rooms. The viewer was able to walk into one of these rooms and, as if reading a book, understand the wonder of the world just from the stories told by the collected objects and how they were displayed.”
Wonderstruck is a book I would love share with a book club. In addition to how stories from 1927 and 1977 come together, I want to talk about how the author/illustrator’s idea emerged. I want to wonder how we could put things together like that to come up with a totally original idea in a book. Maybe I can do that, but if I can’t do, I hope that you will take the time to be totally wonderstruck! And then let me know …
Click on this link and scroll down to the Meet Brian Selznik video clip. You’ll be glad you did.