Wonderstruck in class

By: Elias Stenersen

Wonderstruck is a book written by Brian Selznick. In the book we see a combination of a written story and an illustrated story. The author describes the book as “a cousin to graphic novels, picture book and cinema”. In the book, the two stories start 50 years apart and then towards the end of the book they follow the same timeline, which is quite unique.

When a teacher is looking for a book to use in class some novels might be too complex and long, and some picture books might be too short and easy to read. In Wonderstruck there’s a good mix of text and illustrations: there is Ben’s story told through more than 140 pages of text and Rosa’s story told through more than 460 pages of illustrations. The fact that the book consists of two stories told in two different ways makes it special and unique and this makes it very interesting and fun to read. The book is therefore great for extensive reading (reading for pleasure). Not only can it be an entertaining book to read but also, as a picturebook it can help readers further develop their English reading skills without having to understand all of the words.

Wonderstruck cover by: Brian Selznick

“By telling stories just as much through picture books as through verbal text, they can open the door to multiple constructions of meaning and engage and challenge readers across the boundaries of age and reading skill.”

 – Anna Birketveit¹

As mentioned  there are two parallel stories in the same book, which means there is a lot of material to analyze and discuss. This can be done after the students have read the book.  Here are a few examples of tasks that can be given to the students:

-        Discuss whether the text depends on the illustrated story, and vice versa.

-        What are the central themes of the book?

-        What are the different settings in the book?

Tasks like these will help students develop their oral skills and their understanding of for example: the structure, context and the culture displayed in the book. Because the book has one written story and one illustrated story, the tasks can also help students understand more about the significance of setting, character development and perspective in literature such as novels and picturebooks. 

To summarize, Wonderstruck is a great book to use in class because there is a good combination between text and illustrations, meaning readers will read longer texts and at the same time connect what they read to illustrations. The book is also great do further develop oral skills as the book is perfect for class discussions. Wonderstruck is therefore a good book to use in the classroom. 

Sources: -      -         ¹Birktweit, A., & Williams, G. (2013).Graded readers and the joys of extensive reading. In Literature for the English classroom - theory into practice. Page 17. Fagbokforlaget Vigmostad & Bjørke AS.
-        Selznick, B. (2011). Wonderstruck. Scholastic.