Billy’s Booger is written and illustrated by William
Joyce and is a compelling story about a boy and his imagination. In this book,
the main character, Billy, has a vivid imagination that causes him to do a lot
of things that “normal” kids do not that always gets him in a lot of attention
at school. When Billy writes a book about his booger for the book contest he is
sure that his imagination will finally get him positive attention. However,
Billy’s book doesn’t get any recognition, which makes him sad. When Billy comes
to school the next day, he learns that everybody love his book and was the most
checked out book in the library (Joyce, 2015)!
The
genre of this book is realistic fiction picture book. I would classify this
book as realistic fiction because it contains characters and a setting that
could exist in real life. Another reason why I classify it under this genre is
because the plot of the story can certainly occur to anybody at some point of
their lives, despite the fact that it is a fiction story.
The
illustrations of this book are great and really enhance the text. In the book,
the author actually incorporates the “book” that the character created in the
story that readers can flip through to truly engage them in the story. The
illustrations take up the entire page and are rendered using 100% multimedia
production. The author also uses a bright color pallet, but the features and
texture of the images gives is a realistic feel.
The
theme of this book is that we all have skills/characteristics that may not seem
useful we just have to apply them to useful situations. It teaches kids that
although you do not see a use in your skill or trait (or whatever it is) there
is good use you can put it to, you just have to find out what it is. The setting
of this book is set at Billy’s school, and the author does not specify a
particular period in time. This book has a style that is geared towards young
children, and beginning readers (6 to 10 year olds).
One
great activity that could be used with the book is having children create their
own short stories that are creative like Billy! It is great, to kids writing in
an imaginative way that will allow them to express themselves. When kids are
able to this, they gain a better appreciation for writing. This aligns with
Saint Leo Core Value of respect because it enables kids to express their
creativity and be respectful of the creativity and creation of other people. Another
activity that could be used with this book is to change an important part of
the story (for example the main character or the outcome of the book fair) and have
children write a modified ending according to what part of the book was
changed. As far as reading response questions, a great question is; Having
children write a letter to the main character giving him advice on other things
he can solve him problem. Another great reader response question is having children
answer the question, “why did the author write this story? What was the theme
of this story? This will help kids thinking about the text and really get involved
in what they are doing.
Joyce, W.
(2015). Billy’s booger. Moonbot Books: New York, NY.
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