Reflection five- Text Complexity/ Leveling Analysis

For this assignment I chose to try to level The Caldecott Medal winning book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I choose this book for selfish reasons. When I was a kid this was one of my favorite books. I loved the story and I loved the pictures. Every night I would beg my parents to read this book to me over and over again.  In continuing with the selfish theme, my wife and I are about a month away from the birth of our first child, a little boy.  She just had her baby shower and we requested that everyone bring a book as a gift for us to read with our child (go figure, right?).  We got several copies of this text. I guess I’ve been telling people how much I can’t wait to read it as a bed time story.  The version I will attempt to level is the 50^th anniversary edition.  The original book was written in 1963, but this edition is copyrighted in 2013. Where the Wild Things Are is a fiction book in the fantasy genre.  The story is about a boy who is sent to his room and then imagines a world where he is king of the wild things. However, in the end he realizes he misses home and when he returns he finds dinner is waiting and is still hot.  This book is a fantasy book because of the imaginary world he creates and the monsters he interacts with.

In order to level this book I relied on several internet resources including: www.readinga-z.com, www.scholastic.com, and most importantly, www. http://www.chroniclebooks.com/landing-pages/pdfs/Parents/MoreaboutLeveledReading.pdf.  Based on these sites I’ve concluded that this book would be a reading level J. This book would be for “transitional readers” or readers who read early chapter books and longer picture books, silently and fluently, and do not rely on picture for cues.  This book is a longer picture book in my opinion; it is around 40 pages in length. The book has several pages that are just illustrations and no page has more than 30 words per page.  Most of the pages are one or two sentences. Level J is usually first grade readers, which I would think that this book would be appropriate for.  I struggled leveling the book because of its content. I was not sure if a book about monsters might be too scary for a child, but Max tames them and in the end he leaves them and is not afraid of the wild things, so I deemed it appropriate.  I would recommend this book for any reader who has a vivid imagination, and likes playing in the woods. I think that a book like this is relatable to any reader, but especially a kid who can really imagine wild things.  That kid would love this book. Furthermore, the idea that the whole adventure occurs because of some mischief might serve as a gateway for a young student who is always in trouble. He may relate to Max and see himself in the book. Once a reader can empathize with the text they are much more likely to keep reading. 

I struggled leveling this book, because I am still having a hard time distinguishing between all of the acronyms, and taking into account the content.  As a secondary teacher it is hard for me to pick up a picture book and just know what age could read this book.  It is a skill I will have to work on as I continue through the program.