Book Review: The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman

General Information

Title: The Matchbox Diary

Author: Paul Fleischman

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Date of Publication: 2013

Illustrator: Bagram Ibatoulline

Lexile Level & Target Audience

Lexile: AD420L

Age Range: 6-10

Audience: young girls, collectors of memorabilia, lovers of travel/Europe/Italy

Brief Summary

The Matchbox Diary relays a conversation between an elderly Italian gentleman and his granddaughter. Throughout the book, he retells bits and pieces of his journey as an immigrant to America; he does this through the various artifacts he collected and placed inside matchboxes over the years––something he calls his "matchbox diary." With each new matchbox comes a unique and intimate memory of home, new destinations, tragedies, and loved ones.

Evaluation: Pros & Cons

Pros:

1. The characters are rich with personality and history. After reading, students will feel a sense of connection with these characters––especially with the grandfather. This careful craft both makes the story more meaningful for students and also provides a wonderful example for teaching them about character development in their own writing.

2. Immigration is portrayed both positively and realistically. The grandfather doesn't sugarcoat the hardships of coming to America; the journey is realistically portrayed, including both tragic and joyful moments.

3. Historical events and places are mentioned in a subtle yet teachable way. The grandfather's mention of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty is a great teaching point to diverge into during or after reading the text.

Cons:

1. The granddaughter seems slightly too young for the depth of content. The illustrations depict the granddaughter as being quite young, and, I wonder whether the content found in the grandfather's speech would be beyond her comprehension; this is quite a minor factor, but one worth considering when choosing which age group to engage with the book.

[No other cons. This one will have a permanent place on my shelf.]

Literary Elements

Point of View: This story is told completely through the dialogue of the grandfather and granddaughter, with no outside narrator involved, which instantly makes the story intimate and intriguing.

Speech/Dialogue: The conversational tone of the grandfather is elegant and eloquent, crafted with depth, character, and ease; his speech feels genuine and honest.

Fragment Sentences: Fleischman uses a number of short, fragment sentences that help to give the grandfather's speech a natural feel. (Example: " 'Canning fish. Sorting peaches. Shelling peas. Then down to the South, peeling shrimp and opening oyster shells. Where there was work.' ") 

Illustrations

The illustrations in this book are something special––in fact, just paging through the book at first glance, it's easy to get lost in their intricate detail and gorgeous colors. The pages are rich with these images, and each image perfectly complements each moment in the story.

Mini-lesson Idea(s)

Something very intriguing and unique about this story is that there is no outside "narrator voice." Students could practice this element of craft by modifying an existing short story (i.e. taking out the narrative elements and adding more dialogue to make the story flow completely), or, they could create an original piece of writing using only dialogue. For an added level of personal meaning, students could be required (or encouraged) to shape their story around an actual conversation with someone close to them, taking special care to think about how to make their dialogue sound genuine and reminiscent of the person they chose.

- Aubrey