Jenna Cody

Professor Sidney

ECE 260

28 February 2022

Multicultural

Book Title: My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay.

Author: Cari Best.

Genre: Fiction.

Illustrator: Vanessa Brantley-Newton.

Publisher/Year: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2015.

● Style and Language: The children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay,

contains colorful, figurative language. The children’s book is packed full of literary

devices. An example of the utilization of literary devices can clearly be seen in the text,

“We hang up our bags and take down our chairs and don’t care if they land softly or

thunder like a stampede.” (Best, 2015). The above line contains a simile. A simile is a

comparison using like or as. Comparing the noise of the chairs to that of a stampede

allows the text to become figurative. The utilization of figurative language can elevate a

text. It allows it to become more interesting, and thus more engaging to the reader. The

children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, consists of a longer sentence

structure. The sentences almost appear to be run-on sentences by how long they are. The

book itself does not seem to have an obvious rhythm or rhyming scheme, however, the

literary devices within the book allow the story to be interesting and engaging without the

need for musical language. Lastly, the author implements inner dialogue in her story.
 This can be seen in the text, “I don’t like when I hear my name sticking out there by

itself. If no one else has to have Ms. Turner, then why do I? …” (Best, 2015). The

aforementioned text elucidates how Zulay, the main character, is feeling. By adding this

inner dialogue throughout the children’s book, it helps strengthen the storyline. It allows

the readers to understand the thoughts and emotions of the main character. I believe the

children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, is very insightful. It allows the

readers to recognize that people who are blind live very similar lives to that of people

who can see.

● Characters: The main character in the children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me,

Zulay, is Zulay. The readers know that Zulay is the main character from the text, “ … 22

names - and one of them is mine. Zulay.” (Best, 2015). The reader can relate to the main

character, since the main character attends school much like the students reading the book

do. The main character also has best friends. Most of the readers probably have friends of

their own, this helps the readers relate to the main character further. The text, “Four best

friends who help each other. Four best friends who help themselves - Maya, Nancy,

Zulay, and Chong.” (Best, 2015), exemplifies to the readers who the supporting

characters are in the story. Through the text, it is clear that Maya, Nancy, and Chong are

the supporting characters to the main character, Zulay.

● Plot: The children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, begins with the

introduction of the main character as well as her best friends. The story continues by

going through Zulay’s day. It is exemplified in the text that Zulay experiences a pretty

close to normal school day, just like anyone else. She attends class. Does all the same

assignments as her classmates and friends. Within the story, there are tiny things she does
 to aid her with being blind. She types on a brailer. She also takes time away from the

class to practice walking with a white cane. Later in her school day her teacher, Ms.

Seeger, tells the class about field day. She explains that the students can pick any activity

to participate in at field day. The next day, Zulay comes to school and announces that she

would like to participate in the track event. For the rest of the story, Zulay practices

running the track with her white cane. The story ends with Zulay’s friends cheering her

on as she completes the race.

● Setting: The children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, takes place at

school. The time place appears to be in the present decade. The text, “In class 1-3, there

are 22 chairs and 22 and 22 desks, 22 pencils and 22 books …” (Best, 2015), clearly

elaborates the setting of the story. It gives clear details about the classroom helping the

audience understand that the story is taking place at a school in this time period.

● Theme: The theme for the children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, is to

never give up. The book elucidates that no matter what obstacles stand in someone’s way,

they should never give up on their aspirations. The story displays this theme through

Zulay’s willingness to pursue running track even with the obstacle of being blind. The

story also has the theme of friends supporting friends. This is apparent when each of the

best friends supports one another at the track events.

● Illustration: The illustration style in the children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me,

Zulay, resembles that of expressionism. This artistic style is evident throughout the story,

because each of the photos possesses emotion. The illustrations are brightly colored and

have a definitive perspective. All of these elements exemplify the style of expressionism.

The children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me, falls under the artistic media,
 painterly. The illustrator utilizes pencils, pens, and paints to curate the drawings within

the story. All of these materials fall under painterly media. The utilization of lines within

the illustrations helps to create movement. This can clearly be seen when Zulay is

walking with her white cane outside. The down lines of the sidewalk illustrate to the

readers that Zulay is walking down the path. In the children’s book, My Three Best

Friends and Me, Zulay, lines allow the pictures to come to life. The illustrations within

the children’s book contain curved shapes. This allows the drawings to appear more life-

like. It gives an organic feel to the illustrations. The children’s book, My Three Best

Friends and Me, Zulay, contains an array of bright colors. The brighter shades and hues

allow the reader to have a more positive outlook when reading the story. These bright

colors help the reader have a happier persona when investing in the book. The pleasant

colors set an uplifting and ambitious mood for the story. Throughout the children’s book,

My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, the texture of the illustrations is consistently

smooth. The smooth texture allows the story to have a softer tone. This helps children

feel more welcomed to actively engage themselves in the story. The page design for the

children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, is very thought out. Each page

follows a similar structure. The text is on the white part of the page, where the images are

not located. On each page, the location of the text and illustrations vary. Each page is laid

out intentionally. There are no borders that could distract from the storytelling. Overall,

the page layout is thoughtful and does a diligent job of elevating the storyline.

● Theory: The children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, best illustrates

Erikson’s Industry vs. Inferiority stage. This stage best fits children who are school age.

The children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, exemplifies perseverance.
 Zulay displays perseverance through her willingness to practice running track even

though she has challenges imposed from her blindness. A major element of Erikson’s

Industry vs. Inferiority stage is perseverance and working towards tasks. The children’s

book also focuses on the importance of friendships and group support. This can be seen

through the support from Zulay’s best friends when she is running track. This aligns with

Erikson’s Industry vs. Inferiority stage. This stage targets groups and peers working

together. Overall, My three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, agrees with Erikson’s Industry

vs. Inferiority stage.

● Book extension for the children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay:

○ Standards:

■ Reading Standards for Information - Grade 1 - #3: Describe the

connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of

information in a text.

■ Reading Standards for Information - Grade 1 - #7: Use illustrations and

details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

○ Objectives:

■ The students will be able to identify similarities between themselves and

the main character of the story with 90% accuracy.

■ The students will be able to illustrate the goals they plan on achieving

through perseverance with 90% accuracy.

○ Materials:

■ The book, My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, by Cari Best.

■ 8.5 x 11-inch printer paper.

 ■ Drawing utensils i.e. colored pencils, markers, crayons, etc.

○ Teaching: After completing the read aloud of the children’s book, My Three Best

Friends and Me, Zulay. Students will be asked to create a double bubble map. The

double bubble map will be comparing the daily tasks of themselves to that of the

main character in the children’s book. The goal for this activity will be to show

the students how similar their lives are to Zulay even though she is blind. Zulay

participates in the same activities as any average child. For example, she attends

school, completes classwork, dances, sings, etc. The double bubble map will also

elucidate some differences the students may have with Zulay. Students need to

recognize these differences, so that later on in life they do not stereotype or judge

people for these differences. Another activity the students can work on after the

completion of the children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, is an

illustration. Students will be asked to illustrate a goal they want to achieve.

Students will then be asked to explain what challenges might get in the way of

them achieving their goals. They will have to discuss how they plan on

overcoming these challenges to persevere in achieving their goals.

○ Closure: Overall, the varying extension activities will aid students in further

learning about key concepts and main ideas. Each of these activities helps the

students personally connect to the children’s book, My Three Best Friends and

Me, Zulay.

● Books:

1. The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper. This book has a similar theme as

the children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay. Both children’s books
 elucidate the importance of not giving up. They exemplify perseverance and

working to overcome challenges to meet one’s goals.

2. Colors of the Wind by George Mendoza. The children’s book, Colors of the

Wind, has a main character who is blind. Similarly, the main character in the

children’s book, My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, is also blind. Both

children’s books focus on the adversities of a blind person, as well as how they

are capable of overcoming these challenges.

3. I am Helen Keller by Brad Meltzer. This children’s book discusses the life of

Helen Keller. She is a famous American who overcame numerous obstacles from

being both blind and deaf. She was able to learn how to read as well as speak.

This children’s book is similar to My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, because

it elucidates a similar theme and has a main character who is blind.

● Recommendation: Yes, I would highly recommend this book. The book teaches children

the importance of not giving up. It illustrates to children how important it is to not give

up on their aspirations, even if there are obstacles in the way. The book also exemplifies

that people who are blind are capable of participating in all the same tasks as anyone else.

It allows students to recognize differences between themselves and those who may be

different from them.

 References

Best, Cari. 2015. My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay. Farrar, Straus & Giroux.