The Invisible Boy

Book:  The Invisible Boy (Book Link)
Author: Trudy Ludwig (Author Link)
Illustrator: Patric Barton (Illustrator Link)
Publisher: Random House Publisher
Date of Publication: 2013
Genre: Picture Book, Diverse Protagonists
Lexile Score: AD680L
Citation: Ludwig, T. (2013). The Invisible Boy. NY: Random House Children's Books.

Summary:  In this story a boy named Brian went to school and felt invisible.  Each day in class the teacher didn't notice him because he never caused any problems.  His classmates never picked him for games at recess, and he didn't really have anywhere to fit in.  He found his creative outlet in drawing, and that was what made him happy.  Then one day came this new student named Justin, and Brian thought maybe he could be his friend.  The 'cool' kids automatically took Justin under their wings and made them sit by them at lunch.  Until one day Justin brought Bulgogi for lunch and the kids thought that was weird.  Brian wrote Justin a note saying that it looked delicious which seems to have started their friendship.  As the book goes on Justin does little things to make sure that Brian is included which makes Brian slowly realize that he is not invisible any longer.

Audience:  I would say this book would be targeted at grades first through fourth.  The book has many lessons in it that would be good discussion points with this age of students.  For example it shows people being left out, treating others fairly, and overall being kind to our friends.  In grades first through fourth these are all things that need to be reiterated daily.  It could also be tied with many different types of literacy activities that would be good in the classroom.  

Evaluation:  I would consider this to be a  high quality picture book.  The author uses the illustrations to show how Brian was feeling invisible by not giving him any color, and making the other characters colorful.  Then as time progresses and he begins to make friends he slowly regains his color.  I think this great, because it is showing that he is no longer feeling invisible any longer. It shows a strong theme of acceptance throughout the story.  When the new student Justin came along he was able to change the views of other students who had never saw Brian before.  Once Justin was able to explain to others that he was very good at drawing they realized that he would be a great addition to their project team.  I think this shows that it only takes one person to change the mind of a group, which greatly benefited Brian.

Activity: 
Scene Sketch: They will have to draw an important event from the book, or section of the book that was read.  They will then have to write a caption explaining what is happening, fill in a character thought bubble to explain what the character is thinking, and include setting in the background of the drawing.