How I Learned Geography

Shulevitz, U. (2008). How I learned geography. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.

 

This book is a Caldecott honor book. 

 

Exposition: Uri and his family are refugees after World War II.

Conflict: The family has to move to the desert (Kazakstan), and are very poor and starving. 

Rising Action: Father goes to the marketplace to buy bread for the family to eat, but he returns with a map instead.  Uri is hungry and furious with his father.

Climax: Uri stares at the map, and eventually imgines travelling to all of the places on the map.  He draws  the map.

Falling Action: Uri forgives his father.

Resolution: The family moves to Paris, then Israel, then finally the United States.  Uri knows the places from his map.

The illustrations do a good job establishing the mood.  In the pictures where the family is hungry, the illustrations are dark and dreary.  Later, when Uri travels the world, the pictures are bright and happy.  The reinforce the text when they describe the places he travels.