The Wall

Bunting, E. (1992). The Wall. Illus. Ronald Himler. New York, NY: Sandpiper.


Brief Annotation: The Wall is a story of a boy and his father who go to visit the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. to find the boy's grandfather's name on the wall. It's a simple yet complex tale of family, remembrance, and the importance of honor.


Genre: Picturebook, Historical Fiction


Grade Level: 2-5


Readers who will like this: students who like history or travel. Teachers teaching the Vietnam era or war.


Response/Rating (1-4): ***. It was hard to track down this book, though it was recommended to me by a number of different people. My favorite element was the pictures. The watercolors by Himler are beautiful and capture the somber tone of the book perfectly.


One question you would ask before a read aloud: What is the purpose of a memorial? Can someone name another important memorial?


Reading Strategy: I think a great strategy to use for this book is the KWL chart, offered in Yopp & Yopp (page 37). The students will take a piece of paper and mark three columns: Know, Want to know, and Learned. They will fill out the first two columns with what they know about the Vietnam Memorial or Washington D.C. and then after they read the book they will fill in the last column. This can show the students what information is in the book and give them more knowledge of the historical fiction genre.