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P A R T I :
Entering the World of Children’s Literature
in traditional literature, also employs the backdrop setting frequently, as in Frog 
and Toad Together (Lobel). Some authors deliberately leave time and place vague 
in order to emphasize the universality of their stories, as in Sounder (Armstrong). 
The integral setting is essential to the story, meaning that the story could not have 
taken place anywhere but in the setting specified by the author. According to Lukens 
(1999), “We say a story has an integral setting when action, character, or theme are 
influenced by the time and place” (p. 155 ). The integral setting is most often used in 
realistic fiction, especially historical fiction, as in Johnny Tremain (Forbes). Perhaps 
the most difficult setting for authors to write about is a time before they were born. 
Both the author and the illustrator of historical fiction must undertake painstak-
ing research to present an authentic setting. However, authors can go overboard in 
developing the setting. Settings should be introduced to the reader subtly, through 
things the characters see, say, and do within the story. Authors should not resort to 
multiple pages of tedious description.
Responding to Literature 
Finding Picture and Text Clues
Select a historical fiction picture book such as
Uncle 
Jed’s Barbershop
(Mitchell) or
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree
(Houston). Tell your 
children to look in the illustrations for clues that show the events took place in the past. Read 
the book aloud and ask the children to tell you the clues they saw in the illustrations. Next, tell 
them to listen for clues in the story, and read the book again. Make a chart of all the visual and 
verbal clues that were found.
Plot 
Plot 
“ Plot is the sequence of events showing characters in action” (Lukens, 1999, p. 103 ). 
In other words, it is what happens in a story . To keep readers involved, the plot 
must tell a good story; the lives of the characters in a book should be more exciting 
or more interesting than the readers’ lives. There are four primary types of plots: 
cumulative, linear, episodic, and circular.