Picture book reflection / When Sophie Gets Angry...

Bang, M. (1999). When Sophie gets angry - really, really, angry.... New York, NY: Scholastic Inc..

This picture book, a Caldecott Honor Book and a Charlotte Zolotow Award recipient, is theme-based and can be used to teach specific ideas or lessons to the targeted audience. This book meets the criteria of being a picture book in that it has pictures on every page, and the pictures help tell the story. The pages and text are large enough to be seen from a distance when shown. The theme of this book is dealing with anger in a manner that does not injure other people. The story provides an opportunity for young children the chance to talk about the way in which they express feelings. I chose this book because the colorful illustrations in the book caught my attention. These were done in a combination of colors that were inviting yet showed the emotion being experienced by the character, Sophie. As the feelings changed, so did the color scheme. I feel this book would appeal to a younger audience since the word-to-page/picture ratio is low.

The events in the story are sequential and reveal both internal and external conflicts. The initial external conflict is person-against-person betwenn the main character and her sister. Sophie is made to allow her sister to take possession of a toy that Sophie does not want to give up. This perpetuates into a person-against-self conflict that the character must overcome, Sophie gets very angry. As a result of this anger, Sophie runs off to be by herself. She keeps running until she is far from home and all alone. This is when the changes take place in the character.

The illustrations were also inviting to young children. They were done in a simplistic manner that looks as if they could have been generated by a child. Items were drawn with heavy outlines and colored with minimal shading and basic colors. The plot line is also simplistic and easy for children to follow. The conflict is universal so all children will able to relate to it and will benefit from the message. Other than the sister in the beginning of the story, Sophie is the only character involved in the story. Her character is developed as the story progresses and is revealed through her actions and reactions. This is a great book for teaching children the various ways to deal with unpleasant feelings.