Blog Entry #3

Ginger and Petunia

Written by Patricia Polacco

Philomel Books, 2007

37 pages

Fiction

          

I chose this book because I have read other books by Patricia Polacco that were great. She is a credible, well-known author that writes wonderful children’s books. Ginger and Petunia is about a refined lady named Virginia Vincent Folsum, or Ginger, and her spoiled pet pig, Petunia. Ginger is a pianist and had to leave the country for a while, and when she left Petunia’s sitter did not come. So Petunia took on Ginger’s exhausting, daily identity as piano teacher and socialite. It is truly hilarious to read about the things Petunia did while Ginger was away.

            The illustrator’s medium was drawing using pencils and markers in this book. The drawings are very realistic and colorful. The illustrator used bright colors and warm hues. There a many lines and rough edges in the drawings to create texture. Many of the pages have a large area of white, negative space with a single drawing as the focal point. In my opinion, the illustrations were reflective of every event and emotion in Ginger and Petunia.

            This book would be appropriate for third grade and up, or an advanced reader, because it is a lengthy book that uses upper level vocabulary. A teacher could read this book aloud to a second grade class and discuss what some of those words mean. It is a very funny book that would be enjoyable to both boys and girls. Ginger and Petunia could be used in English Language Arts to describe personification or to pick out some of the vocabulary to use in a lesson. The story could be used in lower grades as an introductory read aloud for a science lesson on pigs. It can be used as a compare and contrast to explain that pigs cannot actually do any of those things Petunia did and then to teach real facts about them. This book has no awards or honors.