Pistes d'exploration

Study the front cover. What can you predict about the story from the title? What might the magnifying glass signify? What do you notice about the man’s eyes and the direction of his face? Note your answers before reading the book. 

Now that you have read the book, has your interpretation of the cover changed? What message was the author trying to convey? How did Martin and Mr. Flux evolve in their thinking? Use the text to justify your answers. 

List the pros and cons of change. What changes have brought you happiness? Sadness? What does the expression being in a state of flux mean? 

Read the author’s note, then take an ordinary object and transform it. How do you perceive the object now? How do others feel when they look at it? What did you learn from this process?

Examine the front cover page and keep track of the class predictions about the story. After reading, compare them with the actual story. Identify which elements of the cover (title name, colouring, illustrative style, font, etc.) can be helpful.

Sequence the events of Martin’s life to illustrate the changes that take place.

Discuss the pros and cons of change. What would you like to change? How would you go about it?

Using a graphic organizer, identify what stays the same and what changes in your family or in your community. Discuss with a partner. 

Discuss people who are different. What makes them different? 

Earth to Audrey

Mots-clés

Picture book , acceptance , changes , creativity , differences , neighbours , point of view

Commentaire descriptif

Martin and his neighbours live in a “very nice but predictable place.” Wary of change, they don’t know what to make of the eccentric Mr. Flux who arrives out of nowhere one day, calling himself an artist, even though he doesn’t make “anything remotely art-like.” Instead, he does silly things like spinning toy rabbits on turntables and wearing a cat on his head. But his influence is infectious. Soon Martin is encouraged to try new things and eventually the whole town catches on. A librarian tossing salad into a wading pool, and a box containing “cacophony, disorder and germs” are just two of the quirky elements in this engaging book loosely based on the founder of the Fluxus movement, who saw art in the most unusual things. Flat gouache illustrations whimsically play with perception and space, depicting Mr. Flux (with his black bowler hat and forward-facing eye) as a wacky symbol of change rather than someone to fear. Written as a tongue-in-cheek celebration of change, readers will be reassured that change is a normal, natural and desirable part of life. A brief end note describes the 1960s Fluxus movement.