Wonder

A page for our class book, Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

Jaidyn's Email From R.J. Palacio

On Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 1:15 PM, R.J. Palacio <wonderwebinfo1@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Jaidyn,

Thanks so much for writing and sharing your beautiful artwork! I'm thrilled to hear that you loved WONDER and that your whole class was reading it too -- that's awesome! And thank you for the 5-star rating, I'm honored :)

So, how did I get the idea for WONDER? Well, About five years ago I took my son's for ice cream, and while my older son went inside to buy us our milk shakes, my younger son and I waited on the bench outside. My younger son was only about 3 years old at the time, and he was in his stroller facing me while I sat on the bench. At a certain point I realized that sitting right next to me was a little girl with a severe craniofacial difference, her friend (or sister), and her mother. When my younger son looked up and saw her, he reacted exactly the way you might think a three-year old would react when seeing something that scared him: he started to cry—pretty loudly, too. I hurriedly tried to push him away in the stroller, not for his sake but to avoid hurting the girl's feelings, and in my haste I caused my older son to spill the shakes, and, well, it was quite a scene—the opposite of what I had hoped for. But as I pushed my younger son’s stroller away I heard the little girls’ mom say, in as sweet and calm a voice as you can imagine: “Okay, guys, I think it’s time to go.” And that just got to me.

    For the rest of the day, I couldn’t stop thinking about how that scene had played out. It occurred to me that they probably went through something like that dozens of times a day. Hundreds of times. What would that be like? What could I be teaching my children so they could understand how to respond better next time? Is “don’t stare” even the right thing to teach, or is there something deeper? All this stuff was flying through my head, and I realized that I was disappointed in myself because I had missed a good teaching moment for my kids. What I should have done, instead of trying to get my kids away and avoid the situation, was engage the girl and her mother in conversation. If my son cried, so be it: kids cry. But I should have set a better example for him, and shown him there was nothing to fear. Instead I panicked. I simply didn't have the wherewithall to know what to do in that situation. 
    Coincidentally, the song Wonder by Natalie Merchant came on the radio that night, as I was thinking about the ice cream incident, and something about the words to the song just got to me. I started writing Wonder that very night. 

As for other books, Wonder is my first novel, though I've illustrated some other books under Raquel Jaramillo. You can find those online somewhere, I'm sure. I recently released the e-book short, The Julian Chapter, and my next book, 365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne's Book of Precepts, was released August 26, 2014.

Yours,

R.J. Palacio

Elijah's Email From R.J. Palacio

From: R.J. Palacio <wonderwebinfo1@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 1:10 PM
Subject: Re: Letter from Elijah
To: elijah1tgc@parkvale.school.nz

Hi Elijah,

Thanks for writing! I'm thrilled that you and your classmates enjoyed my book so much! 

I like Jack Will a lot too but it's actually impossible for me to pick a favorite character --  that’s like asking a mom who her favorite child is. I can’t answer that: I love them all.

I loved the artwork you sent along too! I think all of those words are good descriptors of Jack Will and many of the other characters too :)

Yours,

R.J. Palacio

Character Traits Art

Summer by Mary

Via by Maddison

August by Jaidyn

Via by Briar

Via by Kayla

Auggie by Tracey

Auggie by Taylor

Jack Will by Liam

Jack Will by Elijah

Justin by Zach

August by Jacob

Jack Will by Ezra

Character Traits Tagxedo

Found this wonderful Tagxedo by Becky Lynn Perkins via Pinterest. What a great idea to show the traits of each character (what each character is like)!

"Fortune favours the bold"

This is my story of the big wave that I was inspired by the Wonder book and the chapter Mr Browns September precepts. It is me reading the story of the big wave from about 5 years ago when I got splashed by a big wave.
By Taylor

Part 8 August (again)

You're gonna reach the sky

Fly... Beautiful child

Eurythmics, "Beautiful Child"

Part 7 Miranda

We have started Part 7, which is narrated by Miranda. Here is her quote and song.

"I forgot that I might see

So many different things

I forgot that I might need

To find out what life could bring"

-Andain, "Beautiful Things"

"I am cool beans"

Part 3 Summer

 Wonder: The Trailer