Rosie and Michael

 

Title: Rosie and Michael

Author: Judith Viorst

Grade Level: K-3

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Have you ever had a best friend that you did everything with? How bout a friend that no matter what they said you were still friends with? Well thats exactly how Rosie and Michael feel about each other in this compassionate book about Friendship.

Even though Michael puts whipped cream in Rosie shoes, shes still his friend.

Even though Rosie calls Michael a banana head, hes still her friend.

This Book is about an everlasting friendship about a boy and girl. This book talks about how no matter what happens they will always be friends. It talks about what a friend is. In this book a friend is someone who will believe you, even though no one else would believe you. A friend who will tell you the truth even if it might hurt sometimes. A friend is someone who knows what your afraid of and doesn't make fun of you for it. A friend will know your nicknames even if they don't make sense. A friend knows all your deep dark secrets and wont tell a soul unless "your fed to a pool of piranhas" or "get thrown in quicksand" then a friend will understand you had to tell the secret. In this book you really get to know the two main characters of the story. You get a real understanding of who Michael is such as;"he has hair in his ears, and his shoulders droop, as well as he plays basketball." You also get a real good understanding of who Rosie is such as; "she has freckles everywhere, and is scared of werewolves." This book doesn't just tell us what a friend is but actually shows us the story of two special friends and within the story you get a sense of what a friend truly is. With Judith Viorst uncanny way with words and Lorna Tomei way to tell stories through her pictures this is a book that is easy to follow and fun to read.

 I love how the pictures follow with the words so smoothly. If you just read the words you could easily picture the illustrations and vice versa. If you just saw the pictures you may not know the names of the friends but you get a sense of how powerful their friendship is. Although this is a cute little story about two friends it gets much more deeper then a boy and a girl who are friends. If you look at the underlying meaning to the story it seems that there are four parts to this story. The first part is knowing who your friend is and accepting them for who they are. The second part is understanding that people make mistakes and understanding no one is perfect. The third part is by believing in a friend no matter what. The last part is this friend is so special and unique. To tie up all four parts together you have truth, honesty, respect and love which is major parts to a friendship. 

I see how the characters seem to grow, in the illustrations Rosie and Micheal's age stays the same but as you read on you see how much the friendship means to these two. You start off with a very simple statement about each other. "Rosie is my friend. She likes me when Im dopey and not just when Im smart. Michael is my friend. He likes me when Im grouchy and not just when Im nice." In the middle you see how each character is truly their for each other "When my parkeet died I called Rosie. When I broke my wrist I called Michael." Then at the end you get a sense of each character such as how they would do anything to save each other from say a burning building or if a lion attacked.

Judith Viorst powerful way with words are very eye catching. In this story alot of the words and pictures are extreme and things they are very unlikely to happen. I think she put such extreme and intense words in there to show the reader that a friend would go to the ends of the earth to save each other.

Although the thoughts of the characters are extreme and pretty non realistic the setting of where Michael and Rosie take place is very real such as; Michael's living room, or outside by a tree, a gym, the city, and Rosie's front porch.

The characters do act like children there age, id say the characters our around 7-8 years old. For instance every child who has a pet goes through the death of one and needs someone there for comfort. Another example is every child gets hurt sometimes badly and wants a friend there to help. Most children come up with different nicknames for themselves or are afraid of big things at the time "like the diving board or the dark" and in many schools there are usually contests for most... As well as how children make up funny nick names to tease each other "like gorilla face or banana head" The characters are dressed in clothes that would be the norm for children. Michael in a baseball cap and Rosie in a skirt. 

I feel the writing is quite entertaining and captivating with words that kids of this age group will understand such as how the character will change their mind and the friend will understand. This is very common with children how they want to be brave and do something but is just to scared. Another very powerful quote is how both children would give up their most prized possession. Many children have a most prized possession and would give it to someone who is a best friend. Judith Viorst really hits the readers with different quality of that age such as teasing names, tricks and silly games as well as saying something to make a friend feel better.

I really like how the cover is a picture of Michael and Rosie sharing a shake together. It gives you that warm feeling all over, and you get a sense of have deep their friendship is and how it seems like it will last forever.

I feel the theme is very appropriate for this age group because you are just getting to understand yourself and others around you. You are making new friends and keeping old ones. You are also learning what it is like to be a friend to someone. I feel this is a great book to talk about how to be a good friend and to write a story about you and someone special to you.

This book really makes me want to keep reading on and find out if Michael and Rosie stay friends forever if their friendship blossoms and what other parts are there to this friendship. This is one book that is captivating to anyone and everyone who has had that special friend they love with all their heart. 

MA Curriculum Frameworks that would be applied to this story is: 

GRADES PreK–2
11.1 Relate themes in works of fiction and nonfiction to personal experience.
For example, students explore the theme,“A true friend helps us when we are in trouble” in poems, pictures, and stories, and compare their own experiences in original art and stories.