What Happens on Wednesdays

What Happens on Wednesdays

Author: Emily Jenkins

Illustration: Lauren Castillo

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade Level: Pre-K to 3^rd grade

The story is told by a young girl perspective. She is a preschooler and does not really know the concept of time but only the routine she follows on day to day basis. She also remembers how she can get to places like school and her home, not by remembering the address but what she sees on the street. The story takes place, (yup you guessed it), on Wednesday. She begins the story by her mother waking her up early in the morning on her pajamas. She then goes to her father to wake him up while her mother goes to the kitchen to make a coffee. She helps her father with newspaper and sits next to him while he drinks his coffee. Then she leaves home to go to school. On her way to school, she sees a dog park, a bakery with a French owner (Oui!), and a store that has a toy mouse that she can ride if she puts a quarter in. After school, she goes to the swimming pool and the library before coming home to have dinner, bath, and a good night sleep. A Wednesday routine of a preschooler!

The illustration on this book is amazing. All the illustrations in this book are colorful and take up the whole page with words either on the top or the bottom of the page. The endpaper too is illustrated. And if you look closely, you will see one of the store name “Brooklyn Bridge”, letting the readers know that the story takes place in a small town in Brooklyn. The illustration is illustrated with crayons and mixed media. It has a realistic feel to it especially with the illustration of the town. I would say that just by looking at the illustration, the readers would be able to interpret what is going on in the story.

 Thoughts:

Oh, how I would love to be young again and have no concept of time but only the routine. It did bring a lot of memory when I was young. Like the girl in the story, I knew exactly what my routine was based on the days of the week. It was repetitive, but I loved it. Kind of wish I had that right now. Life would be so much simpler. But oh well. Throughout the story, she keeps reminding her parents that it “is not a kissing day” which made me wonder why she would say that, BUT I think it is because the author wanted to point out that children like having rules and routine. Maybe she planned a designated day and time for her parents to kiss her or maybe said that because she is growing up and does not need to be kissed. Her parents still kiss her though. This will be a good story to read to young children on Wednesday and ask them what their routine is like on that day. An excellent book!