The Lost Thing

THELOSTTHING ShaunTan TeachersNotes ByNancyMortimer Contents Introduction LanguageandLiteracy VisualLiteracy designingandLayout DiscussionPoints TheLostThingShaunTan TeachersGuide2009Page1of8 www. hachettechildrens. com. au INTRODUCTION TheLostThingisthe inauguralpicturebookthatShaunTanhasbothwrittenandillustrated,andthe resultisawonderful,warm,humorousstorythatwillbereadandenjoyedbya commodiousrangeof ages. Thereissomuchtoporeoverandponderinthisbookthatitwillbeawelcomeadditionto theresourcesthatteachers behavetodrawon.Thestoryisanage? oldandfamiliarlostdogstorytoldbytheboyandaddressedtothe lector. Itisamatter? of? factanecdote, full phase of the moonofinterestandcompassion,buttheaccompanying illustrationsmakeTheLostThingextremelychallenging. Thejuxtapositionoftextanddrawings makeabookthatisboththought? arouseandfilledwithfoodforthought. TheLostThingcanbeusedintheclassroomfrommiddleprimaryrightthroughtoupper secondary coilandagreatdealcanbegainedbythosewhoreadit. TheLostT hingShaunTan TeachersGuide2009Page2of8 www. achettechildrens. com. au LANGUAGEANDLITERACY Thelanguagethestoryiswritteninissimpleandostensiblystraightforward,however ShaunTanisconstantlychallengingthereaderwithhisunexpecteduseofwordsand conceptslookatthemeaningofthewordweirdforinstanceandthesummaryofthe thingItwasquitefriendlythough,onceIstartedtalkingtoitwhendepictedonthepage isahuge,indefinable,outlandishcreature. ThenarratortellsthestoryinafamiliarWhatIdidintheholidaysmode. QuestionWhatisthe putofthissimplelanguageandminimaltext?QuestionWhatwasarealdilemmaforthenarrator? (Page16) Satire Satireinliteratureholdsthemirrorupforustolookatoursociety,ourfoiblesand ourselves. LookattheplaceofsatireinTheLostThing. Metaphor LookatTheLostThingasbeingametaphorandthushavingdifferentmeaningsfromwhat appearsonthesurface. Discussthiswiththeclass. Understatement LookattheplaceunderstatementplaysinTheLostThing. Opening Look particularlyatthebeginningofthestoryandcomment. TheLostThingShaunTan Teach ersGuide2009Page3of8 www. achettechildrens. com. au Ending Whatisthe clashingattheendofthestory? Whatdoyouthinkhashappenedtothenarrator? Characters Doacharacterstudyofthenarrator,outliningwhatheislikeandwhatheenjoysdoing. Whatothercharacters beinthestory? Whatpartdotheyplay? ActivityLookatthelostthingitself,andmakealistofwords,whichdescribeit. mode Whatmakesthestoryhumorous? Wheredoesthehumourcomefrom? Discusswiththe classdifferentsortsofhumourandlookattheingredientsthatcomprisehum