Alberto the Dancing Alligator- Literary and Artistic Elements

Richard Waring Alberto the Dancing Alligator Illustrated by Holly Swain
Published in Cambridge Massachusetts by Candlewick Press in 2002
Genre: Fantasy

Hello Class!! Welcome to our class discussion on literary and artistic elements. After reading Alberto the Dancing Alligator, we have decided as a class that this book is Fantasy. As you recall, some of the elements that make a book a Fantasy include talking animals and unrealistic settings. Because in real life alligators do not dance and become best friends with little girls, and for the most part do not swim in underground sewers and through pipes from toilet to toilet, we have placed this in the Fantasy genre.

We have been discussing many different elements that authors and illustrators use in their books. Your task is to have a discussion about some of the literary and artistic elements Waring and Swain use. You may critique these elements, but do not forget to back up your claims. Please talk about the element as well as what it does for the story. I will start the discussion by talking about one of the artistic elements that Holly Swain captures.

For example: Swain uses watercolors and colored pencils to create bright colors that show excitement and energy throughout the mixed double page spread and comic book style illustrations that “bleed” off the edge of the page.