Overview: Stargazing, written by Jen Wang, and New Shoes, written by Sara Varon show the importance of having confidence and traveling outside of your comfort zone. Both
Synopsis:
Stargazing: Stargazing, written by Jen Wang, is a story about a young girl further discovering who she is by making an unlikely friend, who brings out the best in her. The main character, Christine, is a young, shy, Chinese-American girl, who feels the pressures of her Chinese culture in her social and school life. The Chinese culture values hard-work, dedication to education, following parental guidance and elderly respect. While valuing culture is extremely important, Christine is learning to continue valuing her Chinese culture, while simultaneously exploring the American culture.
From the beginning of the graphic novel, the reader can see how hesitant and skeptic Christine is when meeting Moon, a young girl whose family is moving into Christine's guest house. However, as Christine gets to know Moon, she realizes that Moon is the "ying to her yang".
They are complete opposites in every aspect of life, but their friendship works. Christine promotes Moon to learn Chinese, a language to honor their Chinese culture. Moon brings Christine out of her comfort zone and pushes her to compete in the talent show to perform a K-pop song and dance with Moon, paint her toenails pink, and show her vulnerability to both Moon and her father. Moreover, when an tragedy takes a hold of Moon's life, Christine is able to find the true value in their friendship because, even though these two young Chinese-American girls have differences, in Moon's words they "are the same" (Wang, 199).
Even though Moon is unable to compete in the talent show because of the tragedy, she was able to come to the show and see how the entire school organized it to raise money for her surgery. Christine also proved to be a great friend by pushing herself out of her comfort zone to perform the K-pop song and dance with her friends; a big gesture to honor her friendship with Moon.
New Shoes:
New Shoes, by Sara Varon, is about a donkey, Francis, who creates shoes for his village of animal friends. This fictional story has many different characters, whom are all animals, that are personified to bring the story to life.
Francis, is a well-known shoemaker for all of the animals in the village. The shoes he makes are not ordinary shoes, they all are original featuring intricate designs. The uniqueness of his shoes is what makes them so well known.
Shoe making takes a lot of work from Francis and other members in the animal community. Without other animals helping Francis out, he would not be able to make his shoes. The goat brought the coconut wood for the soles, goats brought wool for the inside of the shoes, Nigel, a monkey, brought tiger grass to make the outside of the shoes, and the chickens wove the tiger crass to form the outside of the shoes. The reader can tell that it takes a village to make some new shoes!
Francis is a respected member of the community who is tasked with creating shoes for Miss Manatee, a famous singer. However, Miss Manatee does not have legs, so Francis has to think hard about the design for Miss Manatee's shoes. When the time came to make the shoes for Miss Francis, one of the essential members of the community was missing; Francis couldn't make the shoes without the special tiger-grass that Nigel brings to him, so he set off on into the unknown to find Nigel and the tiger grass.
Along his journey, he met several interesting animals that he had never encountered before. Each animal that he met, he learned more about, formed relationships, and was taught about the wild. After Francis found Nigel, it appeared that he had stolen the tiger-grass from a Jaguar, Wild Hog, and Howler Monkey, so they were keeping him hostage. (What a Cheeky Monkey!)
In the end of the story, Nigel's freedom was exchanged for a guide book that helped Francis along his journey. The jaguar taught Francis how to plant tiger grass, and Francis created an out-of-the box mobile "shoe" for Miss Manatee.
Miss Manatee's shoe vehicle was perfect just for her, and Francis painted it with animals he had met on his journey throughout his wild journey. All because Francis came out of his comfort zone, he was able to learn about others, find adventure for himself, and create the best vehicle for Miss Manatee. Without Francis, Miss Manatee would not have been able to perform.
Author/ Illustrator: [ Click the Books to be taken to the Author's websites!]
Stargazing: Jen Wang, the author and illustrator of Stargazing, created the storyline of Christine and Moon based on her own life experiences. Jen Wang brought to life her own character through both Moon and Christine by using different aspects of her personality in each character. By using both characters, she was able to accurately display her position in her Asian- American culture.
In an interview with School Journal Library, Jen Wang describes her connections with both of the characters, "Moon was easy to shape because I took a lot of her differences from myself. My family was Buddhist and vegetarian, I was not particularly good at school, and I loved to draw. Personality-wise, though, I’m a lot more shy and sensible like Christine. I decided to write from Christine’s perspective because I thought it might be more interesting, given [that] she’s less like me on the surface."
(Click the link to find the full article:https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=jen-wang-draws-from-reality-stargazing)
Moreover, the graphics in the graphic novel were drawn by Jen. She was able to create doodles to create the story-line that captures the journey of Christine and Moon. Jen was able to create graphics that appeal to a younger audience by creating 'sketch-like' drawings. Jen, in the same article referenced above, describes the Stargazing graphics in the following quote, "I wanted Stargazing to look different. I wanted it to feel a little more casual, intimate, and down to earth. So instead of brush inking, I went with ballpoint pen." By using a different technique, the graphic novel appeared as if it could have been drawn by an elementary classmate and/or friend. This approach would allow students to connect closer to her book. Jen worked with Lark Pien, who added color to the graphics to further bring it to life.
Stargazing won the Children's Literature Award from the Asian/ Pacific American Library Association.
New Shoes:
Sara Varon, the author and illustrator of New Shoes, created a graphic novel using her own unique style that can be seen throughout the graphics within the novel. Similar to Jen Wang, Sara used her own personal experiences to help her craft New Shoes. On a trip to South America, Sara observed the town of Linden, Guyana. On her trip to Linden, Sara observed the houses, animals, greenery, and local shops that were composed of vibrant colors to inspire her drawings in New Shoes. Her artwork displayed in the graphic novel was penciled in using mechanical pencils and ink pens. The graphics displayed in New Shoes
are similar in their vibrancy to the graphics in Stargazing, but both Sara and Jen Wang offer different styles of drawings that kept me entertained throughout the entire novels.
Sara wanted to use her adventures and discoveries in Linden to be personified through Francis, the main character in New Shoes. Throughout the novel, Francis discovers the native environment that is very different from him small local town, while traveling through the forests. Even though Francis was in a different environment, he learned to respect and appreciate the new things he observed; Sara was similar in her experience.
Awards Provided by Sara Varon's website.
2018 New Shoes – New York Public Library, one of 2018’s Best Books for Kids
2018 New Shoes – MoCCA Fest/Society of Illustrators, Silver Medal for Long Form Comic
2018 New Shoes – Junior Library Guild, 2019 Selection2018 New Shoes – New York Public Library, one of 2018’s Best Books for Kids
2018 New Shoes – MoCCA Fest/Society of Illustrators, Silver Medal for Long Form Comic
2018 New Shoes – Junior Library Guild, 2019 Selection
Personal Opinions and Experiences:
I have been exposed to graphic novels and their purpose, but I have never read graphic novels that I truly enjoyed. However, while reading both Stargazing and New Shoes, I found myself engaged in the reading more than ever before.
Stargazing and New Shoes have completely different characters, plots, settings, and more, but I was able to find connections between both of the stories when I stopped to analyze them. Personally, I like when I can find connections between readings because it helps me build upon knew knowledge and/or readings that I am developing. I am sure that research proves this is the same for kids and students. The connections that I made between both books is the concept of 'cultivating your own garden', which I read in a story Candie by Voltaire. The concept of cultivating one's garden is essentially the concept of experiencing things on your own, forming your own thoughts and opinions, and exploring the world through your won eyes. This is how I interpreted the concept, anyways.
Similar to the young Ojibwe girl, Charlie and Carlitos, they are inquiring about the world, questioning why things are the way they are, and interested about things outside of their comfort zone. Francis, needed Nigel's disappearance to push him out of his comfort zone and Christine needed Moon to push her as well. All of the readings, mentioned in previous blog posts, all have the common entity of culture within them.
Many times, children are stuck between worlds: their family's culture and their American culture. Children are often confused about what cultural norms are appropriate in the eyes of their culture and the American culture; "Cultural norms and adult attitudes and behaviors define children which differences matter and which do not." Therefore, without disrespecting the culture of our students, we must help them 'cultivate their own garden' and witness the cultural differences that their friends, classmates, and teachers have. Chapter 7 in Reading to Make A Difference states, "Our classrooms can be a tapestry of friendships woven from the threads of differences that exist in our communities, indeed, from the world at large" (118). That is exactly what these two books do for students that may share an Asian-American or South-American culture.
Within the story of Stargazing, there were several pages that I included notes on that referenced the culture of the Asian-American people. Food is a big component in any culture because it brings people together. Page 31 of Stargazing, Moon and Christine are eating dan dan mian, a common Asian dish that is served with vegetables and potentially meat. In any culture, there is the possibility for people to be pescetarians, vegetarians, vegans, etc. and Christine experiences this when she is not given any pork in her noodle dish; Moon and her mom are vegetarian. Moreover, Christine and her mom go to the Asian market to pick up some authentic Asian foods. I could tell they were in an Asian Market because their market on page 121 has Chinese language above the store name and inside the store was Chinese writing. These textual features helped me to understand where they were in the novel.
I have been in an Asian Market. There is one in Hickory where I go, and it is so interesting to see all of the different foods within the Asian Market. They often have ready to eat meals, rice in BIG bags, tons of different types of noodles that vary in level of spice (My sister eats their Cheesy Spicy Noodles), and different types of meats.
These are some pictures from the Asian store I mentioned above.
I don't know everything about Asian food, but I am exposed to the culture more than other people. (I eat their delicious meals ALL the time).
One aspect of the Asian culture that I would like to know more about is their language. In the graphic novel, there were times when their language was used. However, I can't speak Chinese, so I needed to rely on the graphic novel to help me understand. On page 107 and 108 a small poem is read in both Chinese and translated to English. I am glad that this aspect was included in the graphic novel so that I could understand what was being read. In my classroom, I would try to put the words in English into google translate, then have them read aloud in Chinese so that my students could hear the Chinese dialect spoken aloud.
Cultural Social Issue: Cultural Expectations
As we all know, each culture has their own set of rules that guide the way their culture operates. Every culture, regardless of where it is located, lived by these unspoken social rules. Often in the Asian culture, parental and elderly respect is extremely important, valued, and expected of everyone, including adults. At the beginning of the novel, when Moon and Christine are starting to become friends, Moon has access to nail polish which she promotes Christine to use. Christine knows that her parents think that nail polish is not for kids, however, she paints her toenails secretly anyways. Christine's father found out about the nail polish and said, " Things like clothes, makeup, and nail polish are just hings to keep smart girls like you from succeeding" (114). From my cultural perspective, it is difficult to understand how nail polish can keep someone from succeeding, but I am not a member of their culture, so I do not know what their culture is like first-hand and their "unspoken" rules. However, I can respect their cultural values and understand that this is one of the ways in which girls my not be able to express themselves. It is not my job to say, 'EVERYONE can wear nail polish." It is my job to open the perceptive of my students while also respecting everyone's culture. Towards the end of the novel, Christine becomes extremely upset with her father and tells him that he wants everyone to be perfect. Christine's father apologizes and tells Christine that the color of his ice and cream would be a nice nail polish color. Christine's father was able to give his daughter permission to wear nail polish and he was bale to value the new culture that she is apart of; Joining two cultures together is difficult. Sometimes one culture is exchanged for the other. It is important for students to NOT lose their culture; both can be valued.
The concept of language, food, and nail polish "draws attention to the idea that our humanity is what we have in common with all human beings, but our differences are what make each of us interesting to the world" (118).
Book Comparison Chart inspired by Laminack and Kelly's Reading to Make A Difference:
Stargazing Spread:
The following graphic spread is from page 198 and 199 of Stargazing.
As an educator, this is one of my favorite parts of the entire book. This is the part that Christine lets herself be vulnerable in able to show Moon how much she means to her and how sorry she truly is. In the top left corner Moon says, "why did you do that?" referencing why Christine left her journal out for all of their friends to see. Based on her facial expressions, you can tell that Moon is extremely surprised; her eyes are wide, her mouth is slightly open, and she is staring at Christine while she tries to explain. Moreover, you can tell how ashamed Christine is of her actions based on the lack of eye contact she has with Moon on the page on the left. However, when Moon forgives Christine she is able to make eye contact with her once again. She says, "we are the same" and reaches out to Christine. This part in the graphic novel reminded me of The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, when the hands touch. There is so much power and force within the photo above and below. It just shows the connection that can take place. What makes the picture in Stargazing authentic is the nail polish that both Moon and Christine are wearing. It symbolizes the first point in Moon and Christine's friendship.
Instructional Goals:
- Develop and understand the connection of touch and hands in culture.
- Use the photo from Stargazing to help make inferences about what is happening in the picture of The Creation of Adam.
- What is the purpose of showing hands?
- Why are they drawn/ painted almost touching?
- What might happen next in Stargazing and the painting done by Michelangelo?
-What other ways could the author/painter illustrate the emotions between the two people in the painting/ graphic?
Instructional Next Steps:
Many students, especially with Autism and/or social communication disorders, struggle with displaying emotion. Therefore, interpreting the facial expressions and feelings of characters would be beneficial for all students. As a teacher, I would continue building on emotion and the connections that emotion brings to us as readers and as a society. Social Emotional training would be a good activity for a class to display what each facial expression may show. I would have my class think of different emotions and how they can be displayed. Then, they could go find a book of their interest in which the character displays the emotion that they chose.
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