Someone+Says

Book Review by Christina Jaramillo


 * Bibliographical Data **

// Book name: Someone Says //

// Author: Carole Lexa Schaefer //

//Illustrator: Pierr Morgan //

// Publisher: Viking-Penguin Young Readers Group, 2003 //

// Language: English //

// Pages: 30 //

// Age range: 3-7 //

// ISBN: 0-670-03664-1 //

 **Author Bibliography:** As Carole grew up, she wanted to become a poet and journalist. It wasn’t until she had to put together a children’s book for an assignment for her master’s degree that her friend suggested she try to publish, that she thought otherwise. While that book didn’t sell, she began writing more children’s picture books, and has been writing them ever since.

 **Book Summary:**

 //During preschool students use their imaginations to make the day more interesting. Leaping frogs, dancing ponies, flapping wings, and eating like tigers all start when, “someone says..”.//

 **Review:**

 //Someone Says// was a very fun and imaginative book to read. As the preschool students made their world come alive in new and imaginative ways, the readers was able to follow. The illustrations bring the students’ imagination to life and brings new meaning to child’s play. At the end of the story I felt like I understood why young kids tend to be in “their own world”; it’s simply much more interesting than ours.

 **Analysis of a Literary Element:**

The illustrations in //Someone Says//, are interestingly Chinese. The story is set in a Chinese preschool, with Chinese themed imaginative moments. However, if it were not for the illustrations, the reader wouldn’t know the setting of the story. To me, this is an important factor because it shows how universal the actions of the Chinese students are. This imaginative play is something all young children do. Some specific examples where the imaginative moments are specifically Chinese are on pages 9-10 and pages 17-18. On pages 9-10 the children decided to make up songs, and amongst them, figures dressed in ancient Chinese attire are drawn. Perhaps they are trying to emulate those historical figures they learned about. On pages 17-18 the children decided to build a castle, and the illustration shows them imagining to build a traditional Chinese tower castle. Perhaps yet again they are trying to be like those they have learned about. The illustrations greatly enforce the Chinese culture and offer cultural learning opportunities for classrooms.

[|http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/someone-says#cart/cleanup] []
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