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P A R T I :
Entering the World of Children’s Literature
of anxiety, because the reader is uncertain of the outcome. There are four primary 
types of conflict: 
•
Character against self (e.g., Wringer by Jerry Spinelli)
•
Character against another character (e.g., Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s 
Stone by J. K. Rowling)
•
Character against society (e.g., The Giver by Lois Lowry)
•
Character against nature (e.g., Hatchet by Gary Paulsen)
One outcome of a good plot is that children are better able to understand their own 
problems and conflicts by reading about the conflicts of the characters.
Theme 
Theme 
The theme of a book is its central idea, the underlying message the author is convey-
ing to the reader. Other definitions include a significant truth, a value-laden state-
ment, a broad and powerful idea that has universal application, or more simply, the 
moral of the story. Sometimes the theme is explicit or stated directly by the narrator 
or a story character. For example, in Knee-Knock Rise, Uncle Anson says that “if 
your mind is made up, all the facts in the world won’t make the slightest difference” 
(Babbitt, p. 111 ). More often, the theme is implicit. Readers have to infer the meaning 
Story Map
 F I G U R E 2 . 1 
Title: “Cookies” from Frog and Toad Together
Author: Arnold Lobel 
Beginning
Main characters:
Toad and his friend Frog 
Setting—Place:
Frog’s house in a garden 
—Time:
Summertime in the present day 
Problem:
Frog and Toad cannot stop eating the cookies Toad baked. 
Goal:
They want to have willpower to stop eating cookies. 
Middle
Events/attempts to reach the goal:
1. They put the cookies in a box. 
2. They tie the box with string. 
3. They put the box up on a high shelf.