Week 2 Post 1 - Eastman

Eastman, Peter A. (2007). Fred and Ted like fly. New York: Random House Children’s Books.

Fred and Ted like to fly is  in the genre of the week Picture Books – Children Reading (to 4^th or 5^th Grade) because it is appropriate for children in Kindergarten and 1^st Grade.  It is an easy to read beginner’s book and centers on the dog characters in the title who are friends in spite of being completely different.  

In fact the episodic plot of the book is not built around a conflict per se but a simple chronology of a trip by characters having only three things in common”: They are dogs; each flies a airplane; and they take the same trip.  But everything else is different: how they look; what they do; and how they feel. This characterization through description lies at the heart of the book. 

This is a delight because this description helps young readers develop their reading comprehension by using simple text like “Ted was small.” to introduce a small dog who is wearing a red sweater and red scarf and  “Fred was tall.” a tall dog who is wearing a green sweater and scarf. The rhyming of Ted and Fred also makes them memorable. The rest of story then builds on the initial rhyme of their names and their being clad in contrasting and memorable red and green colors. The contrast continues when one dog pushes his plane to the runway, one pulls; one flies right side up and one upside down; and when later they go surfing the small dog uses a long board and falls down when he reaches the beach while the big dog uses a short board and stays up when he reaches the beach.

The art work is cartoonish and uses exaggerated and rounded figures with little or no background as well bright but primary, consistent colors to buttress the story’s simplicity and allow young readers to focus on all the contrasting vocabulary. It never distracts from the point the book which is building vocabulary.

The book also uses these word contrasts to encourage readers this age to appreciate that though people including  their friends and classmates are different, they still can be close and enjoy being together.  Further, it is appealing to young readers because it is about the excitement and adventure of flying which most children love and going to the beach.

There isn’t a single word in the text that encapsulates the experience of reading it. Instead it is all the different words and variety of comparisons made throughout that make the books work. This book is not profound but is effective getting kids to pick up contrasting words and phrases. 

Question: How can the reading of Fred and Ted like to fly used in a cohort of Kindergarten or 1^st Grade children to help them notice and be tolerant and accepting of the racial, social and economic diversity surrounding them?