Something Good

Written By: Robert Munsch

Illustrated By: Michael Martchenko

ICE CREAM! COOKIES! CHOCOLATE BARS! GINGER ALE!

Something Good by Robert Munsch is the story of a young girl's grocery shopping adventure with her father. The message contained within the story is that no amount of money could ever replace the love between a parent/guardian and child.

Analysis of Text

• Repetition of phrases (examples: "up and down the aisle" and "ice cream, cookies, chocolate bars, ginger ale")
• Simple diction
• Combination of short and long sentences
• Emphasis on important words (use of capital letters)
• Experiences that relate to children (grocery shopping, wanting to buy junk food)
• Humorous nature (Tyya is mistaken for a doll)
• Happy ending :)

Analysis of Illustrations

• Very detailed
• Vivid colors
• Watercolor media (areas of light and dark run into one another creating areas of contrast)
• Realistic people
• Exaggerated use of facial expressions (expressions which draw upon the humorous elements in the story)
• Pictures tell a story all on their own

Multi-cultural Elements and Avoidance of Stereotypes

When I looked deeper into the text and illustrations of Something Good, I was highly impressed (and happy) to see that elements of multi-culturalism were represented. The main character Tyya, is portrayed as a non-white little girl. Unfortunately, in my experience with literature, characters tend to be represented solely as white characters. However, in Something Good, all the characters are represented across different races and colors. All characters carry the same weight in importance and characters are portrayed as individual characters, not as a stereotypical whole of a particular culture. The language used in the book is not representative of one cultural stereotype either. I believe that the representation of multi-cultural characters in a children's book sends a positive message to readers. Children are shown that all people, no matter their race, ethnicity and/or color are equal. Using such material as Something Good in the classroom encompasses and welcomes the diversity of learners within the classroom. What I also liked the most about this particular book was the avoidance of stereotypes used mainly in the illustrations. Instead of depicting a "typical" scene of a mother grocery shopping with her children, the story follows the shopping adventure of a father and his daughter. Although the last picture in the book does show Tyya with her siblings, mother and father, the main part of the story focuses on the relationship between Tyya and her father. The father is portrayed as engaging in a chore that is usually depicted as a "mother's job." Again, a positive message is sent to children showing that there is no one "right" family dynamic.