Genre 4 nonfiction: The Extraordinary Mark Twain

1.BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kerley, Barbara. 2010. The Extraordinary Mark Twain. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0545125081

2.PLOT SUMMARY

Thirteen-year-old Susy Clemens wants the world to know that her papa, Mark Twain, is more than just a humorist and sets out to chronicle a comprehensive biography of the American icon. From the book you can conclude either Twain was the best father ever lived or he was simply favored by his era, or perhaps a bit of both. The book starts with one of those tidbits writers sometimes stumble across. Kerley uses Susy’s text from a notebook filled with the neat cursive of the day to construct the dual biography, the story of Twain and the story of Susy telling about Twain. Every few pages, Kerley includes sample journal or minibooks stapled (and glued) to the spine of the book. The books, though short, tells of Twain’s life sketch from being the boy who became an artist, a steamboat pilot, until becoming a famous author. The story covers not only Twain’s life as an author but also as a family man with ordinary human life of perfection and flaws.

3.CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This is one of the best brief biography picture books I have read. The illustration is full of colors and humors. The story is based on the first point of view to portrait what Susy’s father, Mark Twain. The critical analysis would based on the four perspectives, including accuracy, organization, design, as well as style.

Accuracy

Barbara Kerley is the award-winning author of several picture books, a Caldecott Honor and an ALA Notable Book, and Walt Whitman: Words for America, a Sibert Honor Book. The books was presented as Susy’s own words journal therefore it can be counted as accurate from a 13 year old daughter’s eyes in 1885. The illustration actually was taken from the book by Susy and was translated into the illustration book concept by Kerley. Though the book is short, it is precise and covers a lot of ground as Mark Twain’s biography. Being a first hand biography by Twain’s own young daughter, it is quite a different kind of biography one usually reads in general. Illustrations are funny and realistic, not counting Susy’s own language errors, which otherwise makes it authentic. At the end of the book, the author has a lot of references on her sources of information, which will be a good example for readers to know that each quote comes from some referenced sources.

Organization

The layout is logical. It starts off with a rationale telling why Susy writes the journal about her father, “People probably thought they were Mark Twain experts. But they were wrong…” She wanted people to know her papa as who he was, not only a humorist in other people’s eyes but also a philosopher. The story moves along in a clear sequence of an ordinary daily life and routines with Susy’s observation. She notes not only her father’s work, personality and habits but also his relationship with his family and other people. There are also some funny parts like Twain’s forgetfulness of his own writing when he was enjoying reading one of his own books not knowing it was his own. The story is not complex and though it does not have subheadings or table of content or index, the small leaflets themselves are presented as sections each in themselves. At the end, Kerley even adds a page of guidelines to help children learn to write their own biography as well. It is a good surplus to help children kick start their interest and have a way to try it out.

Design

The book design is very attractive and inviting though it may be a little difficult for young children to ready due to its older linguistic style as well as grammatical and spelling errors (or differences.) It is designed in a journal entry format with a single sheet folded into simple leaflets pasted on one of the pages each time a page is turned. It is a cute and interesting idea. It makes readers excited to find out what is hidden behind those folded little pages. There are some readability problems from time to time, however, especially with the small fonts and the calligraphy type. Small children may find it difficult to read due to small print size and the font type. The illustrations, however, are very attractive and lively. They can make me smile. In each illustration, which has been placed appropriately, there will be a short explanation of what is going on in the pages. Coupling with Susy’s jounal, those text descriptions make perfect senses of what is going on. I consider the design effective and it communicates the subject matter very clearly. There is one observation I should make though. The journal in the leaflets at times may be too long for young children’s attention span.

Style

The illustrations and writing style is clear, lively and very interesting. It reveals the author’s passion and enthusiasm very clearly. The style and design encourage readers’ curiosity and make them wonder what will happen next. The vocabulary in the illustrative texts themselves are appropriate though those in the ‘journal’ at times are a little archaic according to the time it is supposed to be written, A.D. 1885. As earlier mentioned, there might be a little too many words in some of the journal leaflets for young children to keep their attention going on, especially when the fonts are quite small. For children of older ages and higher grades, that may not be a problem.

In summary, the book hardly is hardly the first book to spotlight Twain, though it may be one the first picture books about his life, it is a good supplement to help young and old readers understand the life of Mark Twain from the insider’s (and family member’s) perspectives.

4.REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

A Junior Library Guild selection

Kirkus in School Library Journal says, “Kerley's conversational, quotation-rich narration effectively complements Susy's insights, and the result is an affectionate portrait of Twain as writer and family man… A heartwarming tribute to both the writing life in general and the well-loved humorist-oops, sorry Susy… "Pholosopher!"

Publisher Weekly comments, "extraordinary biography" complete this accessible and inventive vision of an American legend.”

5.CONNECTIONS

The following are the three connection books you may find interesting.

The first one is another biographies book about Mark Twain.
Fleischman, Sid. 2008. The trouble begins at 8: a life of Mark Twain in the wild, wild West. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN: 0061344311

The second is a brief biography picture book with simple text by Barbara Kerley.
Kerley, Barbara. 2008. What to do about Alice? How Alice Roosevelt broke the rules, charmed the world, and drove her father Teddy crazy. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN: 0439922313

The third book is also another picture biography book for young readers about George Washington.
Giblin, James. 1998. George Washington: A Picture Book Biography. Illustration by Michael Dooling. New York: Scholastic. ISBN: 0590481010