Frindle Analysis -Kimberly Smith

Kimberly Smith 

EDU T&L 467

MLA: Clements, Andrew, and Brian Selznick. Frindle. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 1996. Print.

Intro
Frindle, written by Andrew Clements, is a sensational book that targets children between the ages of 8-12, especially. Clements, a former fourth grade teacher himself before going into publishing, actually incorporated his own experiences with a group of students into the novel.  As a winner of the Christopher Award and a book often used in classrooms today, the children’s novel proves itself as an outstanding piece of work. 

Summary

Frindle tells a story that primarily focuses on Nick Allen, a fifth grade boy with a huge imagination and a knack for coming up with creative ideas and then bringing them to life. Nick’s sense of creativity is somewhat challenged by Mrs. Granger, the fifth grade  language arts teacher with a reputation for ruthlessly enforcing rules, giving students a plethora of assignments and tests, and above all else, her unmeasurable love for the dictionary. When Nick’s ambitiously replaces the word ‘pen’ with ‘frindle,’ Mrs. Granger tries her best to stop the evolving idea from taking over Lincoln Elementary School, but soon realizes that the impact of Nick’s invented word is hardly limited to their local school. 

Analysis

In exploring Frindle, I realized that there are several benefits that this book comes paired with. In my opinion, this book would best fit students who are in the fourth grade or in the fifth grade. This is mainly because the book centers around students who are currently in the fifth grade, and readers would be best able to relate to the book when they are in an age group similar to the characters they are reading about. I think the book would be best assigned to the class as a read out-loud. This is because the book, though it isn’t too eccentric, does have some challenging vocabulary and concepts that students would be better able to understand with the guidance of a teacher. Reading the book out loud would allow the teacher to emphasis certain perspectives and parts of the book that may otherwise be passed over by a student who cannot fully grasp all that they are reading. I may also use this book in class as a tool to get children more comfortable with using dictionaries. In addition, as a class exercise, I would encourage students to invent words and then show the students examples in history for how words have been invented or changed over time. 

Ideally, I think that Frindle could be used to extend on a few key concepts that are important for kid’s to pick up on. First off, I think that the book can be used for something as simple as having readers get a better idea of what the purpose of vocabulary is and how words evolve. Moreover, this book highlights the idea that imagination is important and can truly influence our world. Frindle encourages readers to be creative and invent. Readers see how Nick’s decision to incorporate the word ‘Frindle’ into his life led to huge media coverage and attention and eventually, to his made-up word being added to the actual dictionary. This gives readers hope that they’re own ambitions not only have purpose, but that their outlandish ideas can be very real when they make the effort. 

Frindle also touches on other issues. The issue of rules and what it is to be a “trouble maker” is brought to light. For example, though Nick breaks academic rules at school, he is not being disrespectful to his teachers, and thus his parents do not condemn his behavior. Teachers like Mrs. Granger challenge his attempt to break school rules, but other figures of authority in the book can’t quit pinpoint why what Nick is doing should be deemed as “bad.” Thus, though at first Nick is seen to be reaping havoc, it is later explained that his idea to challenge school rules was actually something rather commendable. The idea of free speech is also a popular issue throughout the book, and is a valid reason to why Frindle’s popularity is acceptable, and as to why the reporter did no wrong in parading through Nick’s school and helping to make the word ‘Frindle’ explosive. Towards the end of the book, as it becomes clear Mrs. Granger was actually rooting for the success of Frindle the whole time, readers become more certain with the idea that Nick’s explosive idea was perfectly innocent, and moreover, that hard teachers aren’t automatically villainous teachers, but may actually want the best for their students.

Clements does an especially good job of writing in a way that students can relate to. He purposely uses clever descriptions to explain things in order to appeal to the demographic of readers who will pick up his book. For example, when describing the weight of the dictionary, Clements explains that it is “the kind of book it takes two kids to carry.” The illustrations, by Brian Selznick, also serve a valid purpose by reinforcing small details from the text. For example, on page 9, when we first see a picture of the villainous teacher, Mrs. Granger, we see her sitting amongst dictionaries, with one dictionary open to a page that defines the word “Quiz,” a concept very important to her method of teaching.