Katie and the Mona Lisa-Literacy Reading, Reading Map, ERICA

Katie and the Mona Lisa-Literacy Reading, Reading Map, ERICA Model

This particular reading material, Katie and the Mona Lisa, was written and illustrated by James Mayhew. It is suitable for young readers aged five to eight years and is appropriate for the Early Reading Phase, as it provides many opportunities for students to respond to texts and demonstrate their understanding (Annandale, Bindon, Handley, Johnston, Lockett, Lynch pp.150-152, 2004).

Katie and the Mona Lisa is about a girl who visits an art gallery with her grandma and observes the Mona Lisa. The girl, Katie, starts to question why Mona Lisa is not smiling. She immersed inside the painting and the Mona Lisa becomes alive. Mona Lisa begins to tell Katie how it has been so long since she spoke to anyone. Together they climb out of the painting and begin to explore the rest of the gallery. Mayhew utilises precise vocabulary as he introduces new words, specific details and meaning from the artworks and presents Italian history and Italian language to the reader, creating a believable and compelling story.

Readers at the Early Reading Phase are capable of relating to the characters and the clever injection of Italian words like “Bambina” provide variety and fun especially when reading the story aloud as drama is emphasised when saying these words (Saxby, 1997). Using the “imaginative communication” principle from Halliday (1975), helps teachers to experiment with new ideas when reading aloud to students where students listening to the story use their imagination, anticipate and predict outcomes, respond to and participate in discussions regarding the text (Annandale et al., 2004)