The Pirate of Kindergarten by George Ella Lyon

The Pirate of Kindergarten

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lyon, George Ella. 2010. Illustrated by Lynne Avril. The Pirate of Kindergarten. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-1416950240

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

 When Ginny went to kindergarten, she loved Reading Circle the best. Even though she had to nearly put her nose in the book to see the words clearly, Ginny loved books. However, she often bumped into people and into objects.  And she had to pay special attention when she was cutting art projects.  One day, the school nurse gave eye exams to all of the students, and Ginny discovered that not everyone had these challenges.  Based on the author’s real life experiences.

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS


 George Ella Lyon is the author of many picture books, but it is her recreation of her personal struggles with double vision as a child that has won her the Schneider Family Book Award. The setting of this charming story could just have easily taken place in mid-twentieth century as a modern classroom.  There are few elements that pinpoint the decade, which made the story appropriate for many years to come.

The story is filled with engaging illustrations depicting Ginny’s double vision.  Even the youngest readers will notice the duplication of all of the objects in Ginny’s line of vision. With little prompting, young children will display empathy for Ginny’s challenges.

Young female listeners and readers will be thrilled to observe that girls can dress as pirates and wear eye patches; this imaginative type of play is not limited to boys! More traditional adult readers may notice the inclusion of a male nurse, which helps further the story’s departure from traditional gender roles.

Ginny’s struggles will resonate with anyone who has struggled with a minor disability as a child. When Ginny proudly wears her corrective eye patch without bumping into a chair, there won’t be a dry eye in the room.  The Pirate in Kindergarten is an excellent story that teaches young children about visual disabilities and normalizes the corrective eye patches worn by other young children

4.  REVIEW EXCERPTS
  • Schneider Family Book Award - Won 2011
  • Reading is Fundamental Multicultural Book list - 2011-2012
  • Volunteer State Book Award - Nominated 2013

 Starred Review from School Library Journal: "Lyon's short, descriptive sentences set up the situation deftly, and Avril's astute chalk, pencil, and acrylic drawings of "two of everything" provide a vivid window into Ginny's pre-treatment world."


Starred Review from Publishers Weekly:  "Without lecturing or making Ginny the object of pity, Lyons and Avril, who works in cheery but remarkably expressive pastels, show how disorientating and alienating it feels when something as fundamental as visual perception goes awry."

Starred Review from Kirkus: "Lyon's simple, declarative text effortlessly puts readers into Ginny's head, and Avril's whimsical mixed-media illustrations give them her eyes, overlaying one image slightly off its original in a satisfyingly disorienting fashion."


Review from Booklist: "Created with pastels, acrylics, and colored pencils, Avril’s bold and wonderfully vivid mixed-media illustrations sometimes portray the classroom through Ginny’s eyes, with overlapping images of chairs, books, and people, though they usually present an outside perspective."

5. CONNECTIONS

 *Other books by George Ella Lyon:
Planes Fly. ISBN 978-1442450257
Which Side Are You On? The Story of a Song. ISBN 978-1-933693-96-5
All the Water in the World.  ISBN 978-1416971306

 *Other picture books with young children who have eye disabilities:
Headley, Justina Chen. The Patch. ISBN 978-1580891707
Shaw, Beth Kobliner and Jacob Shaw. Jacob's Eye Patch.  ISBN 978-1476737324
Kostecki, Jenny Sue.  My Travelin' Eye.  ISBN  978-0805081695
*George Ella Lyon's Website
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