STORYWRAPS: I see you.....

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog, welcome to Storywraps. First order of the day....answers to the book quote I posted yesterday. First the quote: "How five crows managed to lift a twenty pound baby boy into the air was beyond Prue, but that was certainly the least of her worries." The quote is from the book "Wildwood" by Colin Meloy.

Today's quote is "The place that I can remember was a large pleasant meadow with a pond of clear water in it." Can you tell me what the title of this book is and who is the author?

Featured book today:

Title: The Invisible Boy

Author: Trudy Ludwig

Illustrator: Patrice Barton

Take a peek inside:

My take on the book:

I fell in love with Brian from the very beginning. He is so adorable and innocent, but unfortunately invisible to those in the world around him. He loves to imagine and create and drawing is his passion. Drawing is what keeps him going because his classmates never include him, never pick him for their team or choose to play with him, and he never gets invited to birthday parties. Even his teacher looks through him and doesn't stop to find out what a beautiful little person he is or what valuable contributions he could make to her classroom community. She is always dealing with the kids that need closer supervision and therefore she ignores poor Brian too.

One day this all changes. A new boy, Justin, arrives in class and at lunch time starts eating his lunch with chopsticks which makes the other kids start to ridicule him and make fun of him. This new little boy is from South Korea and eating with chopsticks is quite normal there. Brian makes a decision to welcome him and he writes him a note, a note of friendship, a note of I "see you" and you are interesting and I like you. From that life changing moment for Brian, both boys become good friends and work on projects together and "see" each other for what they are....valuable, fun, creative little classmates.

The illustrator has worked so brilliantly on the main character to visually portray Brian's struggle and victory at becoming noticed and seen. She starts Brian out in a hollow, empty black and white sketch while the classroom, in contrast, is in full colour. As Brian steps forward and reaches out to Justin, Musilo adds some colour to him. Finally Brian ends up in full colour signifying he has enriched himself and the others around him. He is a whole, full-filled person who finally is recognized for who he is and is accepted by his peers and teacher. I highly recommend this books for read-alouds in the classroom and discussions about how we are all individually different and how it is up to us to see that no one disappears from sight or is invisible while in our midst.

About the author:

Trudy Ludwig is an award-winning author who specializes in writing children's books that explore the colorful and sometimes confusing world of children's social interactions. She has received rave reviews nationwide from educators, experts, organizations, and parents for her passion and compassion in addressing relational aggression – the use of relationships to manipulate and hurt others. Trudy wrote her first book,My Secret Bully, after her own daughter was bullied by some friends. Since then, she has become a sought-after speaker, presenting at schools and conferences around the country and educating students, parents, and teachers on the topic.

Her books have received the NAPPA Gold Medal Award, Mom's Choice Gold Awards, the Moonbeam Children's Books Gold Award, and are included in the Cooperative Children's Book Center's "Best of the Year" Selection, the National Crime Prevention Council's "Circle of Respect" Book Club Selection, the Junior Library Guild Selection, School Library Journal Best Picture Books Selection, Scholastic Instructor Recommended Back-to-School Picks; The Children's Book Review Best Picture Books Selection; Kids' Indie Next List Selection, and more.

Trudy has been profiled on national and regional media outlets. (Click here for media coverage.)She has served as content advisor for Sesame Street Workshop's "Good Birds Club" TV episode and as an expert panel member featured on Sesame Street's recent video series on bullying. Children's books have always been Trudy's great passion. It was her daughter's experience which inspired Trudy to quit her freelance writing career to focus on making a difference in kids' lives, one book at a time.®

Trudy lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, two children, and their loyal hound dog Hannah. She is a member of the International Bullying Prevention Association and collaborates with leading experts and organizations including Committee for Children, Hands & Words Are Not For Hurting Project, and Putting Family First.

Disclaimer: Trudy Ludwig is not a counseling professional. The information presented by the author to her audiences is compiled from cited research findings, as well as resources and references gleaned through her volunteer work and collaboration with experts and organizations around the country.

About the illustrator:

About Patrice Barton

My artistic talents were first discovered at the age of three, when I was found creating a mural on the dining room wall with a pastry brush and a can of Crisco. Although the work itself was never fully appreciated by my parents, my interest in art was. They quickly gave me more appropriate supplies. My passion for art grew, and I earned a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas in Austin, where I now live with my husband and son, a few doggies and one can of Crisco (for cooking only).