Bad Day at Riverbend

Title: Bad Day at Riverbend
Author and Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company Boston in 1995
Genre: Fictional Picture Book
Grades: K-3

This book begins in Riverbend which is a quiet little town. It was set a long time ago when there was a sheriff and a jailhouse and people rode on horses and in carriages and wagons. The coachman is missing but the sheriff finally found him sitting on the ground behind a rock. The town became covered in hideous marks and stripes, so when the sheriff and the coachman came back to town all the people were gathered inside the hotel hiding from whatever was making these stripes and marks. The sheriff and some of the men townspeople decided to go find what was making these marks so they go out and find a man at the bottom of teh hill who was as tall as a cottonwood tree and as skinny as a broomstick. The townspeople began over the hill and then they were frozen in the bright light that filled the sky. Then it was gone!

When I first glanced through the book at the pictures I couldn't figure out if someone had taken a crayon and colored the book or if it was supposed to be like that. I soon found out that I had to read the story to figure out the pictures. I loved this story! I thought it was amazing how Chris Van Allsburg had this little boy in a red cowboy hat coloring the coloring book. I had no idea it was a coloring book until the very end. Based on reading level I feel like this book would be more appropriate for second or third graders but I think it could be appreciated on up through elementary school. It's a great picture book and story for kindergarten and first grade. I think they would need more help understanding that there was a little boy coloring this coloring book and that is why the pages look like they do. I have never read a book like this before. But while I've been doing this project on Chris Van Allsburg I have realized that his illustrations are sometimes different than other illustrators I am more familiar with.

I would definitely use this book in my classroom. I think it needs to be read to kindergarten through first maybe even second grade but the third graders could do it themselves. This book is a great book for children to use their imagination and they can imagine themselves coloring their own coloring book. As a teacher I could have my students to write their own story and color it and draw in whatever they want, just like the little boy drew himself at the bottom of the hill. This book could also be used to show students what old towns looked like long ago.