Title of Book: A Day's Work
Author: Eve Bunting
Illustrated by: Ronald Himler
Original Date Published: 1994
This book is about a young Mexican American boy named, Fransisco. His grandfather came to live with him and his mother in California after his father passed away. Fransisco tries to help his grandfather find work. Since his grandfather does not speak English, Fransisco translates for him. Fransisco talks to a man named Ben, about hiring his grandfather to do a gardening job for a day. He tells Ben that his grandfather is a good gardener, even though he really has no idea about gardening. Fransisco does this, though, because they need the money to put food on the table at home. Ben drops them off at the site for the job and returns later in during the day. He finds out that Fransisco lied about his grandfather's knowledge in gardening. Fransisco learns an important lesson from his grandfather that day and in the process gains a greater respect for his grandfather (Bunting, 1994).
- The characters of this book are depicted as individuals. Fransisco does not look exactly like his grandfather. The boy is wearing jeans, white shirt, button up shirt, tennis shoes, and a Laker's cap. Whereas the grandfather is wearing sandals, brown pants, and a button up shirt. He borrows a straw hat from Ben (the gardener). However, when Fransisco and his grandfather are waiting for people to drive by with job offers, there are other men doing the same thing. They too, appear to be Mexican American and all of them look really similar to each other. They all have dark hair and dark mustaches. The two on the left are wearing almost identical clothing. The two on the right are too, just different colored jackets. The image below is found on page 4 of the book. According to the document, Evaluating Children's Literature, number 4, talks about how if the characters are the same ethnic group, they should be depicted as individuals and not look like on another ("Evaluating Children's Literature," n.d. para.4).
- The characters representation does include some cultural information. The boy translates for his grandfather, so that his grandfather can find work. The grandfather also lives with the boy and his mother. In Mexican American cultures, it is not unheard of to have extended family members living with you ("Mexican American Culture," 2010).
- The gardener, Ben, has power in the story. He has power in the sense that he has a job offer for people. He is looking for someone to help him with a gardening job that day. He uses his power to provide an opportunity for Fransisco's grandfather to earn money. Even though Ben appeared to have the power, he uses it in a good way.
- Ben has wisdom in the story. His wisdom is his knowledge of gardening, but also his knowledge in recognizing one's mistakes and not holding them against them. He knew that that Fransisco lied about his grandfather' s knowledge of gardening. He also saw that the grandfather did not know what his grandson had done. Ben also saw a good man in the grandfather when he refused to be paid the money until he and Fransisco fixed the mistake. The grandfather also possessed wisdom. The nature of his wisdom was his values and morals. He taught his grandson the importance of telling the truth and accepting the consequences of his actions (Bunting, 1994. p. 24, 26, 30).
- The consequence of Fransisco's lie, caused the grandfather to look incompetent at first, until Ben realized that the grandfather did not know anything about gardening. The behavior that was rewarded was Fransisco admitting that he was wrong in lying to Ben. Also, the grandfather offered to fix the mistake the next day. These behaviors were rewarded by Ben accepting the apologies and offering to still pay them half of the money that day and the other half the following day when it was fixed. However, the grandfather refused this offer and only wanted to be paid in full after the job was done right. This reaction proved to Ben that he was reliable and honest. Ben even offered the grandfather a regular job with him and he would teach him about gardening.
- Language is used to create the image of the Mexican American boy, Fransisco and his grandfather. The book is written in English, but the author does use some Spanish words when the boy and his grandfather communicate. For instance, on page 12, Fransisco sees a woman driving by and raises his hat and says, "Senora," to be polite (Bunting, 1994. p.12). This helps people imagine the boy as a nice, polite young man. There are a few other Spanish words used that help people feel more close to the characters and their ethnic background.
- The artistic elements that help create theses images are the boy in his hat, and a smile on his face. When he and his grandfather communicate with one another in Spanish, they are illustrated with different facial features that help you feel what is going on between the two.
- The voices heard throughout the story are those of Fransisco, his grandfather and Ben, the gardener. Even though, we do not hear the grandfather very much, his message to Fransisco and Ben were very important.
- The narrative and the pictures tell me that the Mexican American people are very hard working people. They want to work to provide for their families. They are honest and trustworthy. The grandfather demonstrates values and morals that are important to him and that he wants to pass onto his grandson. They appear to be in the lower class of society because it is mentioned that the grandfather needs to find work to help his family with food (Bunting, 1994. p.10).
- The illustrations may create or perpetuate a stereotype, as mentioned previously, the men waiting for work are standing around a trash can waiting for work. The men look very similar and at one point it shows a man trying to take the gardening job from Fransisco and his grandfather, on page 11. This image can make others think that Mexican Americans try to take jobs from others, selfish.
- The storyline presents a problem with the boy and his mother needing the grandfather to work to help with money. Another problem is that the grandfather just moved to California and does not speak English. The problems are resolved with Fransisco's help. He goes with his grandfather to help him find a job. He communicates between his grandfather and Ben. Another problem that occurred was when Fransisco lied to get his grandfather the gardening job. This was resolved by the grandfather, though. He offered to correct what they had done wrong and refused to be paid until the job was done.
- The author, Eve Bunting, is originally from Ireland and moved to the U.S. with her family and resides in California (she is Caucasian). She has written many books, ranging from preschool age, middle school and so on. "She never shies away from addressing difficult issues, including racial prejudice, death, troubled families, and war; at the same time, her work is infused with hope and beauty,"("scholastic," n.d., para. 2).
- The illustrator is Ronald Himler. He too, is Caucasian. "He is well-known for his ability to express complex emotional messages through his painting"("ohiana-author," n.d., para. 1). He traveled though Europe and did a lot of research at major art museums and has won many awards for his illustrations in children's books ("zolabooks," n.d.).
- I would recommend this book to people. I believe that it has a great storyline and the images are amazing. It sends a good message and teaches an important lesson about lying. It also shows that people have to work hard to earn a living and I believe that children should know this.
Reference List
- Bunting, Eve. (1994). A Day's Work. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
- Evaluating Children's Literature. n.d. retrieved from HD 25 notes.
- Mexican American Culture. (2010). retrieved on March 20, 2013, from www.kwintessential.co.uk/articles/mexico/mexican-american/1140
- ohiana-author.org/himler/
- scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/eve-bunting
- zolabooks.com/profile/bio/Ronald-Himler
