The Dot

A little girl doesn't believe she can draw until she is encouraged by her art teacher who becomes ecstatic over the dot she has drawn on the page. This leads to her creating a whole collection of dots in different sizes and shapes and having an art show. This is a good book because it encourages

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children to believe anything can be art.

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A young students doesn't believe in her artistic abilities. With some gentle guidance and encouragement from her teacher, she becomes an artist. At her school art show, she encourages a young boy to believe in his abilities.

A little girl sits in art class one day thinking and saying she is not an artist and can't draw anything. THe teacher asks her to put anything on the paper and sign it. She draws a dot. The teacher then puts the picture in a nice frame and hangs it up in the classroom. The little girl is delighted

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and continues to draw dots until she has a whole collection to display. One kid flabergasted that how could she draw such wonderful powerful things asks how she does it. She tells the little boythe same thing the teacher told her. In the classroom: Introducing art, what makes the art in a picture book, storytelling

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This is the story of a young girl who discovers her inner artist with just one dot. A great and inspirational read.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

This is a good example of realistic fiction because everything that takes place in the story could actually happen, but its not based on a true story that actually happened. Real things happen like Vashti being in art class, her painting a dot and calling it art. It is a

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great story about not being afriad to express ourselves, we all have something to offer even though it may be different than those around us. We dont learn much about the main character besides that he is shy. We could call Vashti a round character since we see he grows at the end, becoming confident and teaching others to be bold.

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Students can easily relate to the plot in this book. This makes it so this book is an excellent example of a realistic fiction. There is also great character development in this book. In the beginning the main character does not believe she is an artist. However, by the end of the book she is

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having an art show and is encouraging other children to become artists.

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You could use strategies of visualizing, and making connections to when students felt the same way. Predicting and confirming would be a good one to use also.

This book is about a girl in class who is asked to draw a dot. She struggles over this and eventually draws a dot. The book ends with her dot being in a school art gallery and her encouraging a little boy to draw his own dot.

I thought this book was really neat and I could completely relate to the

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girl in the book. My Creative Experiences teacher read this book to our class and then had us to draw our own "dot". I was really hesitant at first, but eventually did it and the variation in everyone's "dot" was amazing. There weren't two pictures drawn exactly alike!

I would use this book in the classroom by first reading my students this book and having them draw their own "dot". Then I would have everyone show of their own "dot" and notice how everyone's "dot" is different from one another. I might would even bring in a few "dot" pictures for the students to look at.

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Vashti tells her teacher he can't do art. When her teacher challenges her to try something, she slams her pen down and makes single dot on the page. The teachers says "sign it", and then she frames the dot and hangs it up. Vashti thinks "I can make a better dot than that" (not a direct quote). Her

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creativity explodes as she explores artistic variations on of a dot. Very well done.

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This book shows how far believing in students can be and how well they will achieve in things when they feel confident in doing things

The dot is a good example of realistic fiction. It deals with a student who doesn’t think she is good at art, but the art teacher introduces her to a sort of new kind of art and from there the story grows. Students could easily relate to not being very good at something at first and then

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realizing that they can do it.
Age Appropriateness: Primary
Media: Watercolor, Ink, Tea

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Teaches the importance of not giving up immediately, encouragement, ownership and responsibility, "paying it forward", imagination, experimentation, pride, self-esteem, and the many ways to draw a dot.

Vashti doesn't think she's good at art. She talks with her teacher who encourages her to make her mark on the page, so Vashti makes one dot on the page. The teacher says "sign it" and hangs it above her desk. This encourages Vashti to make better dots. She continues by combining different colors

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and creating different ways of making dots. In the end, she encourages a boy to make his mark on a page, and starts the growing process with him. Genre: Realistic Fiction because everything in this story could be true, though it is fictional. Characterization: Vashti is a round character because her dialogue, feelings and growth are evident throughout the story. Media: ink, watercolo

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A frustrated grade school artist, Vashti sits slumped over her blank piece of paper at the end of art class. "I just CAN'T draw!" she tells her teacher. Her teacher first uses wit, then subtle yet clever encouragement to inspire her student to go beyond her insecurities and become, in the words of

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a younger boy who "can’t" draw either, "a really great artist."

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This represents a Realistic Fiction book because it could happen in real life. The main character draws a picture and the teacher encourages her drawing by framing her picture. It will help students look at their own lives and human interaction, and evaluate the idea of perseverance. The media in

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this book is pencil sketch and watercolor. The protagonist, Vashti, is a round character because she continually grows as we find out more about her art skills and as she persists in developing new, and better, artwork. She is revealed through appearance, her actions, interactions, thoughts, from another character, and from the narrator. This book is most appropriate for the primary level.

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This is a great book about what is possible when a little bit of encouragement and imagination are applied. The art in this book uses lots of color and line spacing to create a great sense of what the dialogue is saying.

Vashti is a little girl who does not believe she can draw until her teacher encourages her and sees that all she needs is a little push. All the teache had to say was, Vasti, "Just make a small mark," and she did. The little dot eventually turned into many dots that became more and more artistic as

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she went on. Soon enough the school art show came around and a little boy approached Vashti and told her that he wished he could draw like Vashti, as she responds "Just make a mark!"
-Good for use in classrooms to help teach students that the saying "I can't..." is not a good phrase to use because anything is possible.
-For grades k and up.

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GREAT GREAT GREAT children's book. And also, a great book for adults. Especially for the reluctant artists who think they can't draw or don't know how to draw (children and adults alike!)

I can not sing praises of this book enough! It is a favorite in our house for sure!

This book is about a little girl who says she can not draw. Come to find out just by drawing a simple dot and the teacher believing in her, that was enough to get the little girl started. By the time the little girl was done drawing she filled up an entire wall of her art work. This book is great

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for people like me who do not believe they are artists! I like how the book is so white and clean looking as you read it. Its not busy and you can focus on the paintings in the book.

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Cute! Cute! Cute! In the beginning the little girl was negative about art and her ability to produce art. The book showed her progression from "giving it a try" to really enjoying her art experience. Other people like her work too!! I could use this book to teach about developing character traits

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such as personal best, willingness, exploring new things, diversity, etc.... for grades >3. I could also use this book to help teach about writing skills, illustration skills, expression, and fairness, and personal best to older students as well grades 3-8.

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This book was about a little girl who was negative about her art. She felt she couldn't draw. Her teacher encouraged her to just try, so she just made a dot. Her teacher told her to "Sign it". The next day in class she sees her dot drawing framed and hung up in the classroom. This gives her the

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self-confidence to continue drawing dots in many different ways. The book makes you realize anything is possible with a good attitude. I think younger grades would really enjoy this book. It would be a good way to teach them about willingness and other valuable characteristics. I love the how the illustrator uses color in this book. It really dictates the mood of each picture but is still simple.

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This is a good example of realistic fiction because the plot does not seem too coincidental. Also, the children can examine their own artistic talents in this book and be inspired by it. The main character, Vashti, is a round character as she grows throughout the story and she realizes she can be

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an artist.

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Sumamry: Vashti doesn't think she can draw anything, but her art teacher helps her discover her gift for art by starting with a simple dot. Vashti discovers not only her only artistic ability, but the gift she has to help other uncover their artistic ability, too.

Critique: This is a great example

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of realistic fiction because Vashti could be a real person (she has realist emotions), there is a realistic setting (school), and Vashti has a realist problem that could be solved in a real way (she doesn't think she can draw but her art teacher helps her discover she can). But even though Vashti could be a real person, she is a pretend character whose realistic characteristics make her relatable. Style: The author uses imagery to make his story impactful for the reader. For example, instead of writing that Vashti drew a dot on the paper, the author gives a full description by writing that, "Vashti grabbed a marker and gave the paper a good, strong jab."

Media: watercolor, ink, and tea

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The Dot is an excellent book that talks about how even if you think that something is beautiful someone else may think completely different. The story talks about a girl who didn't believe that she could draw but when her teacher gave her encouragement she could see art in everything starting with

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a tiny dot.

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