![]() ![]() ![]() I cannot exactly replicate here the way the words sit on the page (e.g. Mo Willems and Hyperion have generously allowed us to reprint the entire text of I BROKE MY TRUNK! here on this blog. ![]() I BROKE MY TRUNK!, then, is essentially a textual experience. Thus, it is the word that delivers the humor the picture merely supports it. The picture of Gerald with his bandaged trunk is amusing, but if I were to read the story without the words, I would probably describe the trunk as hurt, jammed, or sprained, none of which are nearly as funny as the word “broke” which plays off the absurdity of breaking something which doesn’t have a bone. On the other hand, if you cover the pictures and read the words alone, you miss the facial expressions and body language of the characters (which are terrible things to miss, admittedly), but you still have a full grasp of all of the literary elements of the story (as we shall see below). Is I BROKE MY TRUNK! a picture book or an illustrated book? If you cover the words and read the book, you do get the gist of the plot, especially in the few flashback scenes, but it’s nearly impossible to infer the nuances of the dialogue in most of the story. ![]()
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