At this point in the year, it’s often time to spice up reading and writing. I like to try a bit of Metafiction with kids. If you think that younger students aren’t ready for this, you are so wrong! Not only do they “get it”, they LOVE it.
Let’s start with a definition. Metafiction: fiction in which the author self-consciously alludes to what they are doing in the story. Authors are parodying or departing from writing conventions and traditional narrative techniques.
Metafiction forces readers to be aware they are reading a fictional book. It breaks what the theater calls “the fourth wall”, the divide between what’s happening on the stage and the audience.
The easiest way to teach this is by example and imitation.
Copying other stories while playing around with parody or irony.
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Book? by Lauren Child
Gaps in the story that the reader has to fill in or speculate on.
The Three Little Pigs by David Wiesner
The same story told from different people or characters’ points of view.
Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne
Chloe and the Lion by Mac Barnett
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems
We Are in a Book by Mo Willems
Warning! Do Not Open This Book! by Adam Lehrhaupt
Chester by Melanie Watt
Black and White by David Macaulay
The Three Little Pigs by David Wiesner
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Mix It Up by Herve Tullet
The Book With No Pictures by Novak
These are stories within a story.
Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett (“read” the side bars)
Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
Chester by Melanie Watt
Let Me Finish by Minh Le
This Book Just Ate My Dog by Richard Byrne
Redwoods by Jason Chin
In a Village by the Sea by Muon Van
A Book by Gernstein
No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart
How This Book Was Made by Marc Barnett
Teaching Tips: Fun With Metafiction by Hollingworth
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