Pistes d'exploration

Predict the story by reading the pictures. Sit in a circle so the whole group can see the book and take turns telling the story as it progresses.

After reading the book as a class, write your own story about arriving in a new place. It could be a new country or new school, new class etc.

Choose a page from the book and write the story you imagine is happening there.

Write the story from the perspective of the main character (first person).

As a group, look at the pictures in this wordless book and tell the story in your own words.

In small groups, choose a page and write a part of the story. Practise using connecting words by linking ideas together using the texts to make one story.

Write your own story of arriving in a new place (e.g. country, school, class).

Before reading, compare the visual elements of the first eight pages with those of the final eight and compile them into two class lists of descriptive words and phrases. Clarify their meanings.

The author asks, “What happens to us when we forget to be afraid?” In small groups, reflect and respond to this question as it applies to the main character. What does it mean for you, personally?

Inspired by the visual elements of this book, create a graphic text or photo story about your experience as a new high school student.

The Arrival, The Name Jar

Mots-clés

Picture book , community , discovery , friendship , immigration , moving (household) , wordless book

Commentaire descriptif

Inspired by the author's own experience, this is the story of an Asian boy struggling to adjust after he immigrates with his family to the United States. The hustle and bustle of the new place intimidates him, but a keepsake seed from his homeland offers him comfort—that is, until he accidentally loses it and has to venture into unfamiliar surroundings to find it again. The wordless picture book, in traditional and digital media, has the feel of a graphic novel, inviting readers to walk in the protagonist's shoes and experience being an outsider. It begins with a collage of blurry, undefined illustrations—busy scenes of the airport, the chaotic city—that evocatively capture the confusion and frustration of the boy. Darker colours in the early scenes make way for lighter ones toward the end when the protagonist finds his seed and makes a friend in the process. The notions of planting a seed and putting down roots are represented literally as well as figuratively, as our protagonist makes his way and his life in a new place.