These past few weeks we have been reading (as a read aloud) all of Patricia Polacco’s picture books. Our assignment was to create an essay on a theme related to all of the picture books. It was difficult and time consuming but put together, it creates a great essay.
In Patricia Polacco’s books and life there are several examples of selflessness which show Patricia Polacco lived a childhood around many supportive and caring people. Her life was built into a very diverse family which makes her stories so interesting. All of her stories are unique in their own way. Three of Patricia Polacco’s many books that really spoke out to us are Chicken Sunday, Thank You, Mr. Falker, and The Lemonade Club. We believe that Patricia Polacco shows her gift of writing best in these three books, she is a really talented and accomplished writer and has many life lessons to share with others.
In Chicken Sunday Trisha, Stewart and Winston were selfless because they put in the effort to earn money, so they can buy Miss Eula May the easter bonnet she always admired but couldn’t afford. They wanted to show how much they appreciated all the nice things she does for them. Another example of selflessness was when Trisha, Stewart and Winston used their time to make pysanky eggs for Mr. Kodinski to make him feel that people did care about his feeling and how he is treated. In this particular book Patricia Polacco really presented different examples of selflessness from all races very well, which we thought was incredible.
In Thank You, Mr. Falker, Trisha was being bullied by Eric because she wasn’t a gifted reader. To prevent Eric from calling out things like “Your stupid!” or “You’re dumb!” or “You can’t even read a picture book!” Mr. Falker helped Trisha by setting a few things straight with Eric, this was a sign of selflessness because Mr. Falker stood up for Trisha unlike all of her previous teachers. Another example of his selflessness is that he used up his own independent time to stay after school and help Trisha in all the ways he possibly could, to help her become the fabulous reader he knew she could be. Thirty years later Patricia Polacco bumped into Mr. Falker at a wedding. She told him how much he had changed his life and how selfless he was to all of his students, especially her. “What do you do for a living?” he asked. Patricia responded by saying, “I make books for children…Thank you, Mr. Falker. Thank you.”
In The Lemonade Club Miss Wichelman and all of her fifth grade class were selfless when they shaved their heads for Marilyn when she got cancer, and had to get chemotherapy which caused her hair to fall out. This was a huge example of selflessness because they all were willing to shave their heads just to make Marilyn not feel uncomfortable and to feel that she fit in with everyone else. Another example of selflessness was when Marilyn and Traci used their time to have a club meeting with Miss. Wichelman because they knew something was wrong. It turns out she had breast cancer, but too embarrassed to tell anybody. They cheered her up by telling her jokes, and talking to her about positive things that would get her mind off of her cancer. Marilyn knew just what to say because she knew exactly how Miss. Wichelman felt. They really made her feel like she was no different than anyone else. Although The Lemonade Club does not involve Patricia Polacco (Trisha) directly it shows that she can take a story and bring the best out of it, and make it come to life. This was our favorite story by her, and it really touched us.
Overall, we bet Patricia Polacco loves to be able to look back at her books and remember all of her child memories that she really treasured. It is like she wrote a diary about all of the amazing and interesting things that happened in her childhood. She looks back at all of the selfless people in her childhood including her. To conclude, we believe Patricia Polacco lived a childhood around many encouraging, supportive, and especially selfless people. These are some of the reasons why children adore Patricia Polacco’s writing so much, and also why she keeps writing in the amazing way she does.
“You were born with the power to change others. You change people by the way you treat them. That is what changes the human heart.”
-Patricia Polacco