Genre of Children\'s Literature

Children's Literature

Chris Van Allsburg's, The Stranger, is the tale of the Bailey family and a mysterious visitor they receive one year during early autumn. It is told from the by an unknown narrator, but this unnamed narrator tells the story from the daughter Katy Bailey's point-of-view. One night the father accidentally hit a stranger in the road and brought him home to recover. Although the stranger never spoke a word the entire time he was with the family, he seemed to be happy during his short stay. This stranger acted in the most strange ways as well, as if he was new to the planet. The stranger also seemed to have an unnatural effect on the plant life surrounding the farm. It was early autumn and other trees had already changed to fall colors, but the trees on the farm did not change from green to orange and yellow as they should have done. This brought about an internal conflict within the stranger as he noticed that the trees on the farm had not changed color and thought that something was wrong. He finally came to realize that he was somehow causing the family's farm to remain unchanged, and that he had to leave the farm for things to return to the natural cycle. The concept of self-sacrifice is introduced to the reader as the stranger must sacrifice his happiness for the sake of the family and their farm. The story climaxes as the stranger appears at breakfast dressed in his old shabby clothes and the family realizes that he is leaving. The day after the stranger left, the trees on the farm suddenly changed color, as if they were back in sync with the natural cycle. But while the stranger does not return, every autumn from then on the trees on the family's farm do not change color with the rest of the trees but remains green for an extra week before changing color.

Tuff Fluff: The Case of Duckie's Missing Brain, by Scott Nash, is a detective story set in an imaginary world of stuffed animals. The animals are divided into those filled with stuffing and those that are filled with beans. Tuff Fluff, the stuffed rabbit detective, is hired to discover who stole the brain of another stuffed animal, Duckie. Since Duckie was filled with stuffing, Tuff Fluff immediately suspected the bean filled animals, and when he discovered a bean on the floor of Duckie's house, he went in search of the bean stuffed animals. Here the concept of preconception is introduced when Tuff Fluff immediately acts on his preconceptions and blames the bean stuffed animals. However the bean stuffed animals explained how they were innocent and accidentally left a bean behind when they were listening to Duckie read stories. This is the clue Tuff Fluff needs as he returns to Duckie's house and discovers his brain, which is actually a bunch of stuffing, inside one of the books. However, at the moment of resolution, there is a complication as Duckie's friend, Big Stuff, accidentally inhales Duckie's stuffing brain. This conflict is resolved as Big Stuff donates some of his stuffing so that Duckie can have a brain. This story actual has two climaxes as firstly Tuff Fluff discovers Duckie's brain inside a book, and then when Big Stuff accidentally inhales the brain/stuffing.

Mary Lyn Ray's Basket Moon is a coming of age story set in the backwoods where a hillbilly boy learns that his life in the woods is a good one after all. It is narrated by the boy, who lives with his father and mother in the backwoods. His father is a basket-maker and once a month travels into town to sell baskets. After nagging his father for more than a year, the boy is allowed to accompany his father into town where the town folk ridicule them as "hillbillies." For the first time the boy realizes that his family is poor and is ashamed. After suffering a period of depression about his condition, the boy comes to realize that being a hillbilly, living in the woods, and being a basket maker is a fine thing to do with one's life. Being in nature, being part of something bigger that oneself, and living in harmony with nature is more important than the things that those in town feel are important. The main conflict is within the boy and his inability to accept his position in life; he feels that being a hillbilly is bad, and those in town are better. This conflict rages for some time until he has a long talk with another hillbilly basket maker and learns that their life is actually very good. The boy finally comes to accept his family's place in the world.

The Stranger

Tuff Fluff

Basket Moon

Plot

Mysterious stranger visits family farm, mystical things happen

Detective story about the case of a stuffed animal's missing brain/stuffing