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Jason Chin

+Biographical Information

Grew up in New Hampshire

Studied illustration at Syracuse University

Worked at a children’s book store in Manhattan

Published under Roaring Books Press

+Published Works

Illustrated: Where do Polar Bears Live? (2009) The Day the World Exploded (2008) The Master Spy Handbook (2008) The Master Detective Handbook (2008) Chinese New Year (2004)

Wrote & Illustrated: Island (2012) Coral Reefs (2011) Redwoods (2009)

+Writerly Techniques:

One must infer the narrative story through the illustrations

Read one of Jason Chin’s books to see what I mean!

Inferences

+Writerly Techniques:

Appealing illustrations

Appealing illustrations

The Day the World Exploded

Author: Simon Winchester

Illustrator: Jason Chin

+Writerly Techniques:Easy to read text/factual information

Coral Reefs by Jason Chin

+Writerly Techniques:Illustrates many of the facts for visual aid

Redwoods by Jason Chin

+Themes/Characteristics

Picture Books

Life Science

Wildlife

Literary Non-Fiction

Factual

+Classroom Techniques

Snippet Do a snippet of one of Chin’s books to spark students’

interest in literary non-fiction or non-fiction texts in general

Writing Workshop Have students write their own literary non-fiction texts

Vocabulary Acquisition Chin’s books include academic vocabulary. Reading/using

vocabulary in context is a great alternative to pure memorization

Inferences Use Chin’s books as an introduction to inferences since you

have to infer some of what is going on from the illustrations

+Classroom Techniques

Reading/Listening Comprehension Some children find it easiest to comprehend fictional texts.

Use Chin’s books to test reading/listening comprehension for non-fiction texts

Environmental Studies Use Chin’s books to talk about why taking care of the

environment is important and what might happen if we don’t take care of it

Life Science Use Chin’s books to talk about ecosystems and discuss how

certain communities depend on one another to live. You could also discuss what might happen if certain animals in the ecosystem become extinct

Snippet: Redwoods The coast redwoods are

among the oldest trees in the world. Their ancestors lived about 165 million years ago, during the Jurassic period. One tree can live for more than 2,000 years, which means there are trees alive today that first sprouted during the Roman Empire. Redwoods have shallow root systems that travel more than one hundred feet from the tree. They help the trees stand, and they need all the help they can get because…they are the tallest living things on the planet.