Smoky Night by Eve Bunting
Bibliographic Information:
Bunting, E. (1994). Smoky Night. San Diego: Harcourt Brace. Contemporary Realistic Fiction. 5-8 years old.
Response:
I really enjoyed this book, and after reading it, it became one of my new favorites. I hope that more children are exposed to this book and are really taught in depth about what the book is about. Even if it is a book for very young kids, I am not sure if they would really catch on to the background of the story. They either never heard of the Los Angeles riots because they have never been exposed to it or they just might not be able to wrap their heads around what the actual conflict is. The book contains so many lessons and I think that it can go along with various units in different subjects.
I especially liked the illustrations of the book as it is a Caldecott winner. They were just different and not usually what you would see drawn for a children’s book. Colors were not very bright and there were heavy black outlines on all of it. None of the people drawn were for proportioned, sort of imperfect like the story being told. Though you should not “judge a book by its cover,” you could tell this story was not going to be a light, happy, fun one. The title itself kind of gives away that there was going to be some unfortunate event.
Like I said before, this story has become a new favorite of mine. I would actually go out and purchase it for my future students or kids. Since the background story happened when I was only about two years old when I lived in Los Angeles, I feel like more kids and students should be expose to it
Critique:
I like the fact that the story is being told through the eyes of a child in the style of a narrative. He is sort of naive because only seems to be about 8 years old. He only somewhat understands what is actually going on because I’m sure his mother does not want him to know the truth of the matter just yet. The simple setting varies from the apartment building, the city, and the shelter, but as I read about the story being written I learned that the actual setting was Los Angeles during the 1994 riots. The characters were the little boy, his mother, people of the neighborhood, and the cats who had both small but significant part. During this time there was still a sense of racism and when the fire brought the neighbors of different cultures together, the people were taught by the cats of two different owners. Also the theme of the story, the cats showed how even though they didn’t know each other before they can rely on each other no matter where they came from.
Lessons:
A lesson that can be taught with this story is simply about an important and terrible event in history. It can teach racism and how it can be overcome. It can teach people how to stop judging each other based in their skin or color or where they are from. I as a future teacher will definitely utilize this book.
Discussion Questions:
- Why do you think the little boy and his mother will not go into Mrs. Kim’s store even if it is so close?
- Have you ever experienced any type of discrimination for being who you are?
Activity:
Students will write a short paragraph about the time when they were most afraid. Include the setting, feelings, other people involved, their age, and cause.
Other Resources:
http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~elbond/smoky.htm
http://www.lessonplanet.com/search?keywords=eve+bunting+smoky+night
http://newmandiaz.weebly.com/lesson-plans-and-activities.html
egarciadotcom 