Clay Rice

I really liked this book for several reasons. There is an appropriate amount of text on every page that would not be too overwhelming for a young elementary school student. Certain pages are written like poetry and include rhyming. For example, one page states, “He took business trips and airplane rides. He sailed the seas on rising tides”. The illustrations are very dark and there aren’t many vibrant colors. The pictures are beautiful and detailed, but may not be engaging to some students because of the darker color scheme. However, the use of different fonts and different colors in the text could help keep students’ attention. The plot is well paced and organized, even though there is not one clear point of suspense or conflict. The main idea of this story is that children should let their imaginations run wild and enjoy their youth. This is a great message that is clearly represented throughout the book, but one quote from the book perfectly captured this idea. It says, “Imagination lives in you. It’s the fire in all you do. Use it well, and you can be anything you want to be.” I think this is a beautiful quote that summarizes what this book is about. This book encourages students to think about the world from another perspective than their own using their imagination. It also encourages creativity, which is especially important for children of this generation, who have sacrificed their creative minds for modern technology. Even though this book is fiction, it pushes readers to think about playing and having fun in a whole new way, which they could apply to their lives outside of this story. I would recommend this story for any elementary school classroom.… (more)