Chalk

Chalk by Bill Thomson is a 2011 selection for Notable Children’s Books.

Exposition:  Three children are walking in the park on a rainy day.

Conflict:  The children discover a bag of colored chalk and everything the children draw with the chalk comes alive.

Rising Action:  The children find a bag of chalk hanging a riding toy dinosaur.  They take the chalk out of the bag and begin to draw.

Climax:  One little boy draws a green dinosaur that comes alive and tries to eat them as they run and hide. 

Falling Action:  The same little boy quickly draws a rain shower on the inside of a tunnel slide.  It starts to rain again, washing away the green dinosaur.

Resolution:  The children hang the magical bag of chalk on the teeth of the riding dinosaur toy and walk away in the rain.

Illustrations:  The author in this book used only pictures to tell the story.   I believe that this book was well illustrated and the story came alive through the use of color and the expressions on the children’s faces.  The illustrations were vibrant and colorful.  I just loved this book.

Thomson, B. (2010). Chalk. Tarrytown: Marshall Cavendish Corportation.