Pistes d'exploration

Discuss the lives of the two families. Compare specific things each family does (eating, travelling shopping, etc.) and note the similarities and differences.

With a partner, record your interpretation of the story that goes with the illustrations.

Imagine you are the child in one of the stories. Write the story from the child’s point of view (first person).

Before reading, think about your regular habits or activities. What is part of your routine?

Write your version of the story using your own life experiences, or write about a day in your life (IE).

Make a T-chart and identify the similarities and differences between the lives of the two boys and their families.

Consider the settings of the two storylines presented on the front and back covers. What do you notice about them (colour, composition and other elements)?

What do you notice about the worlds in this book?

Use a production process to compose a letter (or a series of letters) between the boys in the two locations.

Name the components of a picture book. Describe how you would read one to a younger student. Are all books read from left to right?

Divide into two groups. Each group writes out the story for one of the boys. After amalgamating both stories, read your class version of the book. Is it better with words or without? Support your answer.

Create your own mirror book, based on your life and that of a classmate, family member or other person.

One Green Apple, Bagels From Benny

Mots-clés

Picture book , Australia , bilingual text , comparisons , everyday life , illustrations (collage) , layout , Morocco , multiculturalism , parallel stories , point of view , setting , wordless book

Commentaire descriptif

This wordless two-in-one picture book traces the parallel lives of two culturally different families, one from Sydney, Australia, the other, from a Moroccan village. Beneath the outer jacket are a pair of inner books sitting side by side – the Sydney story, with pages turning right to left, Western style, the pages of the other story turning left to right, Arabic-style. Designed to mirror one another, the stories feature each family's activities on a typical day, from morning routines to meal times to shopping, and more. The clever design invites a page-by-page comparison of the two cultures, with a surprising discovery at the end. The story is told entirely through a series of detailed collages created using sand, earth, clay, paints, vegetation, paper, fabric, wool, tin and plastic. Although the book is wordless, a narrative arc is conveyed through the use of storyboard panels. Despite their differences, there are things that connect the families, as well. A final author's note in English and in Arabic gives the context and inspiration for the story and states, “Inwardly we are so alike, it could be each other we see when we look in a mirror.”