We spend a lot of time in our classrooms giving our writers opportunities to develop their skills at personal narrative. After all, telling a story we know well allows us to grow in ways of elaboration and craft. Telling a story we know well helps us learn to use dialogue and develop our characters. Personal narrative provides countless opportunities to develop as writers, because it helps to build a strong foundation from which we can step into more sophisticated types of writing.
However, narrative isn’t just about telling our own stories; it is a genre with much possibility. Lately, I have found myself thinking about how we might stretch writers from their roots in personal narrative to new ways to think about, and write, their stories.
Recently I stopped by our local library to pick up a new stack of requested picture books and stumbled upon one possibility for developing a writer’s narrative craft: perspective. In the stack of books recommended recently by friends was Alfie, by Thyra Heder. If you haven’t read this book yet, you’ll want to check it out. This story, told in first person, begins when Nia tells us about her turtle, Alfie. She describes getting Alfie for her sixth birthday. After we learn a bit about Alfie from Nia, the narrator changes. With a subtle double-page spread we move from hearing Nia’s story about Alfie to hearing Alfie’s story about Nia. You see, when Nia turned seven, Alfie set out to get her a special gift. A shift in perspective like this isn’t an easy move for young writers to make, but this story demonstrates it perfectly. This mentor text would surely get the creative juices flowing for writers who love to play with story.
It seems that one possible next step in developing narrative writing is to try to write from different perspectives. Mentor texts can help young writers see the way stories can be told from another perspective. There are picture books that can make children wonder what it might be like to see the world from the point of view of an object or person other than themselves. I decided to scan my bookshelves to see if other books might be lurking with the possibility of helping young writers see the way authors sometimes think from a new perspective to share a story.
Here are some books that might help in getting started.
They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel: In this picture book a cat is seen by a variety of other animals. No one sees the exact same thing. The book uses illustrations to help show the different ways the same cat is seen by others. It’s a great book for beginning the conversation around perspective.
I Am a Story by Dan Yaccarino: This picture book shares the evolution of story from being told by the campfire to being shared digitally with the world.
Lucky Pennies and Hot Chocolate by Carol Diggory Shields: When readers first hear this story, it seems that the child is telling about a visit with his grandfather, but in the end we learn that it was the grandfather telling the story all along.
Eraser by Anna Kang and illustrated by Christopher Weyant: Being an eraser and fixing everyone’s mistakes isn’t an easy life. In this picture book, Eraser tells us about the challenges of working with other school supplies.
School’s First Day of School by Adam Rex and illustrated by Christian Robinson: What’s it like to be school on the first day? In this picture book, School tells us all about the first day.
The Happiest Tree: A Story of Growing Up by Hyeon-Ju Lee: What’s it like to grow up as a tree? This book gives us insight into one tree’s life outside an apartment building.
Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal: In this book, the author writes in third person, creating a distanced view of life as a spoon. The use of dialogue brings us into the story to help us see the challenges of being a spoon. (Check out Chopsticks, Straw, and Exclamation Mark too.)
The Poem Farm with Amy Ludwig VanDerwater: Poetry can’t be overlooked in providing this opportunity to write from a different perspective. Stop by the Poem Farm website to read more about mask poems and see Amy Ludwig VanDerwater’s collection of mask poems from a different point of view.
Can I Touch Your Hair? by Irene Latham and Charles Waters: In side-by-side poems, two friends share their point of view on everything from shoes to dinnertime.
Pip: A Short Animated Film by Southeastern Guide Dogs: Video shorts can grab the attention of young writers. This video is about a puppy who is at guide dog school, and it’s not going very well. Will he ever make the grade? Young writers could watch the video and practice oral storytelling of a small slice from the puppy’s perspective.
Shifting our perspective takes some practice. What would it be like to be the school water fountain? A pencil in the classroom? The owl in the night tree? Writers can have fun imagining what it might be like to be something different. They can try to think about things from the point of view of another object or person. Sharing these mentors, oral storytelling from a different point of view, and playing in our writing notebooks with perspective can stretch writers.
Taking on the point of view of an object may be the first step to considering the perspective of other characters in our writing. It may help students look at situations through a new lens. Stretching beyond personal narrative to writing from a new perspective provides new opportunities to develop craft, improve use of dialogue, and develop our characters. Give it a try.