Penny's blog

illustrated by Akiko Hayashi

【Analysis of the Story】

〈Characters〉
◆ protagonist : Naomi
◆ foil character : Ellie
They are FLAT characters (static, stereotyped).

〈Setting〉
Backdrop setting

〈Narrative Point of View〉
3rd person limited narrator

〈Plot〉

conflict : 

Naomi was left by her mother to watch her little sister.

rising action :

Her little sister, Ellie, was awake and started crying. Naomi took Ellie to play with her on the road in front of their house.

climax :

Ellie was gone while Naomi was drawing train railway by chalk on the road. 

denouement :

Naomi started to look for her dear little Ellie. She was so nervous and worried that she mistook somebody else for Ellie.

end :

Naomi found Ellie in the park where Ellie usually went with their mother. Their mother found both of them as well.

〈Conflict〉
The Protagonist against Self

〈Theme〉
◇  Naomi learned what it meant to be a big sister.

【Reader's Respond】

The reason why I would like to borrow this book is that, the main characters are sisters. The situation is pretty close to me because I have an elder sister, too. The name of the book grabbed my attention when I picked it from a pile of books. In addition to the title of this picture book, I thought I was also attracted by the painting style of watercolor. The pictures cover almost the whole pages, and words are big and are easy to read. 

Although I don't have a younger sister, I was wondering if my elder sister had ever happened this kind of situation, 'Had she ever been so nervous looking for me just like Naomi had? ' I thought while I was reading.  Readers could see how much Naomi care about her little dear sister, Ellie, when she was looking for her.