Mini-Guide for Reading "Creepy Carrots"

Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynold is a treat! It is the perfect mix of spooky and silly. The protagonist, a carrot-loving rabbit, is convinced that he is being haunted by the carrots from the field where he takes them, and quickly devises a plan to put an end to it. Only there is an unsuspecting twist - whose plan is it really? This text is a great read this time of year while also offering an opportunity to examine figurative language and perspective.

Themes: Just-right spooky stories; problem-solving

Here are a few ways to maximize the use of this text as a read aloud to support a variety of literacy-based skills.

BEFORE READING

• Look at the cover. Discuss your observations. What does the cover tell you about what this story might be about? What do you see, think, and wonder?

• In this book, you will meet Jasper Rabbit who has a passion for carrots. What is a passion? What is one of your passions?

• What do you know about where and how carrots grow?

• What are some synonyms for CREEPY? What things do you think are creepy?

DURING READING

• What observations can you make about the artwork in the book? For example, what do you notice about the coloring? What is in color, and what is in black and white? Why do you think the illustrator made the art this way? What was he trying to do?

• Why does Jasper like to take carrots from Crankenhopper Field, and what makes him suddenly decide to stop taking them?

• What are the synonyms for the verbs used to described Jasper taking the carrots from the field? (pulled, yanked, ripped…) Can you think of other related synonyms?

• Notice the abundance of figurative language to elevate the story-telling. Some examples include:

  • tunktunktunk

  • Creepy carrots creeping

  • He thumped into his bedroom and threw on the light.

  • Jasper hatched a plan.

• Do you think Jasper is really seeing the carrots, or is it his imagination? Why does he think no one believed him? Explain.

• What plan does Jasper make to solve his problem? List the steps he takes.

• Describe the final structure around the field.

• What are perspectives? At the end, two different perspectives are revealed. From the carrots’ persepctive, the fence was their plan and their victory. But from Jasper’s perspective, the was his plan and his victory. Whose plan do you really think it was, and who does the victory belong to? The carrots, Jasper, or both?

AFTER READING

• Write about something you can’t get enough of. Illustrate your writing.

• Describe a time you thought your imagination might be playing tricks on you.

• Map the story using one of these story maps.

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The Power of Pictures in Picture Books

After sending out my last newsletter discussing the flaws of the 3 cueing system and how to implement change, I received a number  of emails asking about the role of pictures. Aren’t they important? How are they important? How can they bring meaning to the text?

Pictures should never be used to guess a word. That’s what explicit phonics instruction is for. But pictures have the ability to support reading in other powerful ways. In this post, I’m going to discuss three ways pictures are a powerful part of the reading experience.

1. Pictures enhance comprehension. Once a word is decoded, the picture can elevate the meaning of the word. In my last newsletter I wrote about a student who couldn’t figure out the word “ferry” in a leveled reader because a) he didn’t have the phonics knowledge to do so, and b) had never been exposed to that word before, so looking at the picture didn’t even help him. Once he was given the tools to efficiently decode the word, he was able to use the picture of the ferry in the text to gain a better idea of this word’s meaning. In addition to supporting vocabulary comprehension, pictures can support other areas of comprehension, such as visualizing the story’s flow and plot structure, better understanding a character’s emotional states and reactions, and referencing inferences and predictions.

2. Pictures add to the storyline. In some stories, pictures provide clues and information that aren’t in the text. They may show another perspective that isn’t narrated. They act as hidden features that add to the storyline.

3. Pictures tap into readers’ imaginations. Detailed illustrations allow readers’ minds to roam — to wonder and wander, and to wish. They invite readers to exercise their imaginations. They encourage readers to ask questions that they might not have had without the visual images, and explore places they never could have imagined before.

4. Pictures evoke emotional connections, responses, and reactions. Have you ever been pulled in by the illustrations of a book, or experienced an emotional reaction or response because of its pictures? Pictures can add a certain mood to the story.

Readers should be encouraged to interpret the pictures alongside the text - to examine, observe, notice, and question — to use the pictures as a tool to deepen their understanding and experience of the story and its characters. Next time you are introducing a reader to a picture book, make sure to save extra time for exploring the role of the pictures. Here are a few topics to discuss when reflecting on the role of pictures in books.

• Patterns or common themes incorporated by the illustrator

• New information that is represented in the pictures that is not conveyed in the writing

• How the reading of the book might have been different without the pictures - would you have missed out on important information offered only through the visual component?

• The ways in which the pictures help bring deeper understanding of the elements of the story: characters, setting, plot, etc…

• Emotional responses or moods drawn out by the pictures

What are some of your favorite picture books, and how do their illustrations enhance the story?

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