What Kind of Animals Will Lala Will Say Good Night to In order Avoid her Bedtime?
Title: I Just Want to Say Goodnight
Author: Rachel Isadora
Illustrator: Marikka Tamura
Genre: Fiction
Keywords: African Landscape, Animals, Bedtime Stories, Black People.
Summary: As it becomes dark outside, little Lala knows that it is time for her to go to sleep. But Lala is not ready to go to sleep until she says goodnight to the cats, the goat, and the chickens. And, and, and.... Lala's adorable stalling technique will be a delight to read to little ones who are not ready to say good-bye to the day.
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Guiding Questions:
-Pre-reading Questions:
What do you think this book will be about?
Why do you think the child is looking at the lamb?
-After:
What techniques did the Lala do in order to avoid falling asleep?
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Why it is appropriate for the primary learner: This book walks one through the fun and eventful things little Lala does to avoid her bed time. This book is appropriate for the Primary learner because it shows detailed illustrations which would appeal to young readers. This is a great book to show students in the primary level (1-3) of a different lifestyle a child their age experiences. It also depicts an African scenery which can be a great introduction to introduce students to subjects in the Social Studies Curriculum. Last, with the few words on the text, and vibrant imagery, it allows young readers to create and develop their imagination skills and they follow along the pages. This book can also show students that although Lala may live in a different part of the world, she enjoys playing, animals and reading too!
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Classroom Suggestions
Classroom Suggestion #1: Provide water colours for students and ask them to make an additional painting where they imagine they are beside Lala, and they are saying goodnight to an animal of their choice.
Classroom Suggestion #2 : Have students partner up and create a small project on an animal depicted in this book. Provide a rubric of what information students must provide.
The Global Perspective
This book ties into the Global Perspective of African themed books and illustrates how Lala plans to avoid her bed time. The theme ringing across this book, and the other ones I’ve chosen, is a Black girl being represented in storybooks. Representation is important and it matters. This is important because a students in the classroom can see themselves represented, and this can open the doors for their love of reading. This book is inspired by African landscapes and cultures and can show students a different perspective on how a child around their age experiences life.
