1. Bibliography
Thompson, Kay. 1955. ELOISE. Ill. by Hillary Knight. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 067122350X
2. Plot Summary
Eloise is the story of a precocious six-year-old girl who lives in the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The main conflict is that Eloise, besides the help of the loving Nanny, is left to raise herself. She fills up her time by finding anything and everything to keep her busy, some of which leads to borderline trouble. The hotel staff are tolerant but irritated as the reader can see from the spunky drawings by Hillary Knight within the book. Eloise also fills up much of her time by "making things up," as stated by Eloise herself. She also gets to live vicariously it seems through the stories of the hotel staff's lives. Kay Thompson tells a poignant story in a light-hearted manner of what measures people will go to in order to fill a void in their lives while trying to make the best of things. It is also a story of independence and finding your own path.
3. Critical Analysis
Thompson's style of writing in this book allows Eloise's true nature come alive through the grammatical structures. Thompson rarely uses periods and lets the language flow out non-stop. There is also much repetition and parallel structure through out the story, especially with certain conjunctions such as and. The author is so true to how a child would really speak, which helps the story and the character's attitude come to life. There are long ramblings from Eloise combined with short bursts of thought, showing the reader the true mind of child. The author does an excellent job of balancing the comical side of Eloise's story with her curious search to fill the void left by her absent mother. Thompson introduces readers to the theme of void filling with such subtly that younger children may not pick up on this message. This picture book is a bit different from its more modern-day counterparts in the sense that there are 58 pages versus the traditional 32 pages, and there are many more words than what I normally encounter in picture books. The book also has some qualities of an engineered picture book, with the fold-out pages of the elevator travels of the main character.
Hillary Knight's drawings contribute to the story in a very meaningful way. His mainly black and white pencil drawings have pops of fuscias and pinks possibly symbolizing the brightness and positivity in Eloise's world despite the family aspect that is missing. Many times, the bright shades of pink show up when Eloise is using her imagination to keep things interesting for herself. The pages where there are less words and more drawings are just as powerful as when there are more words than pictures. The illustrator has a strong sense of who Eloise should be, and many times the pictures show things about the main character's world that the words cannot convey. For example, there is a page that shows Eloise's room. Not much is mentioned except the fact that there is a large coat rack in it. While observing the drawing, the reader notices, (especially the older reader), that there are things that should not be in a child's room such as a bottle of gin and a pair of large scissors. The illustrations also help the reader understand the relationship with Eloise and her mother. Even though we never meet her mother, we can see that she longs for her through the way the illustrator forms the lines and expression on Eloise's face and through the way she reacts to other characters that know her mother. The drawings of Eloise remind me of something out of a Dr. Seuss book. Eloise is depicted much more round and softer when contrasted with the other characters in the book - which are all adults indicating the difference of an adult's world versus a child's.
This book is a fantastic book for children, beginning, according to the book, age 7. Older children beginning around the age of 10 would more than likely begin to understand the underlying themes in the book. ESL children would benefit from hearing and reading this book because the drawings are so well done and help convey the meaning and plot of the story extremely well.
4. Review Excerpt(s)
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS CHILDREN'S REVIEWS: "Brimming with confidence, self-importance and a general disregard for rules, Eloise had to have been a refreshing anomaly among female characters in the '50s."
AMAZON.COM -"Frankly, one can never have too much Eloise."
5. Connections
*This book would be excellent for creating conversation with older children regarding independence and how sometimes we are forced in to being independent.
*Students can compare and contrast the positives and negatives of independence and then write their own stories of independence.
Review film version of Eloise. Compare the differences and similarities.
Check out the website for all things Eloise.
http://www.eloisewebsite.com/kay_thompson.htm
*Other books for children about independence:
Falconer, Ian. OLIVIA. ISBN 0689829531
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