Book #13 - Owen

 

"Owen had a yellow blanket. He'd had it since he was a baby. He loved it with all his heart."

Title: Owen

Author: Kevin Henkes

Illustrator: Kevin Henkes

Publisher: Greenwillow

Date of Publication: 1993

Genre: Fiction

Readability Lexile: 370L

Summary: 

Owen had a fuzzy yellow blanket that he had since he was a baby. Owen brought this blanket everywhere and did everything with it. Owen’s neighbor kept telling Owen’s parents that he was too old to be carrying his blanket around and told them tricks to help Owen get rid of the blanket and not need it anymore. Owen’s parents tried and tried but none of Mrs. Tweezer’s tricks worked. Owen was going to start school soon and his parents knew that Owen couldn’t bring his blanket with him so Owen’s mother comes up with a great idea! She cuts up Owen’s blanket and makes handkerchiefs out of it. Everyone, Owen, his parents, and Mrs. Tweezers are happy. This book would most interest and relate to kindergarten through second grade students.

Evaluation: 

Like all of Kevin Henkes' books, Owen tells us a sweet story about growing up. This is a good story because it is relatable, funny, and describes the characters and events really well. This story could definitely happen to a child in real life. I think a lot of times parents are persuaded by others that their child is doing something that is not "normal". Owen grows during this story - he starts out as a little boy who needs his blanket all the time and decides he will never give it up to a big boy who still needs a little security every now and then but allows it to take a different form. The language and actions of all the characters in this story fits well with their personalities. The setting of this story is Owen's house and backyard, which fits well with a story about a little boy who needs his blanket. This story doesn't use any offensive, degrading, or stereotypical language or illustrations.

Literary Elements:
1. Theme: One theme of this book is that growing up can be hard but sometimes it has to happen. This theme is very related to young children go through the years before they go to school for the first time.
2. Characterization: The author does a good job of  developing Owen in this story. We really get to know what kind of kid he is by the end of the story. Owen changes and grows as the story goes on.
3. Descriptive Words:  The author uses many adverbs and adjectives to describe the experiences of Owen and his family.  The rich word choice will make this, and Kevin Henkes’ other books, great books to use for vocabulary lessons.

Illustrations:
Kevin Henkes uses many framed illustrations to  show different aspects of a similar thought and to show a sequence of events in the story. The pictures are colorful, full of details, and fun to look at.

Mini-Lesson Idea: 
I would use this book to teach coming-of-age stories. This book is a great example of a coming-of-age themed story.  In these kind of stories, the main characters go through many changes and by they end they have learned something important, have become more mature, or have grow in important ways that affect the characters personality and relationships. I would have students develop they own character and figure out a way that they can grow and change throughout the story.