Pencil was an artist who liked to work alone. When he met Eraser, he was not interested in seeing anything that Eraser had to offer. Throughout this story, s Eraser continued to change Pencil’s drawings, and each time Pencil grew angrier and angrier. He thought his art was amazing, and it didn’t need to be changed. When the two characters found a common love, Pencil realized that maybe working together is better than working alone. When Pencil Met Eraser, written by Karen Kilpatrick and Luis O. Ramos tells “The true story of how Pencil and Eraser became the best of friends.” This story shares how Pencil learns to love Eraser, while discovering the power of teamwork. What a great message!
What students said:
“I like how they became friends because at first the pencil did not like the eraser and now they are the best of friends.”
“I really liked the drawings.”
“I wonder if there will be another book because the beginning happened again, but with art supplies.”
“I love this book! At the end I thought when all of the other materials joined was funny. I want to see the sequel!”
“I loved how Pencil and Eraser were arguing but then they became friends, and I want to see a sequel if there is going to be one.”
Teacher Thoughts~
Every September, I search for new read alouds to share with my new class of fourth grade readers. During the first weeks of school, I read several stories aloud each day, as we begin to build our classroom community. Stories that have characters with strong personalities provide wonderful conversation starters.
- This is a must read during the first few weeks of school. The story provides opportunities to engage in thoughtful conversations about flexibility, teamwork and accepting others.
- The illustrations, by Germán Blanco, are invaluable to the story. Flipping back and forth between the pages allows students to see the effects that eraser is having on pencil. Students laughed out loud at Eraser’s antics and Pencil’s expressions. Everyone smiled when Pencil began to see the value of Eraser’s opinions and skills.
- There are so many conversations that can happen with this book. The fantastic and detail specific illustrations allow children to draw conclusions and make inferences which lead to many talk worthy discussions.
We’ve been talking about empathy during our morning meetings so this sounds like a great book to study pencil’s facial expressions and talk about what we understand. Fun share, thank you!