Children Literature---Milo and the Magical Stones by Marcus Pfister

SUMMARY

On a small island in the middle of the sea, on this island lived Milo and other cliff mice.  They love this island because this place provided them with food and shelter form rough storms and pounded waves against the cliffs.  After one storm came, Milo went out of his cave looking for food.  Then, he found something extraordinary, a strange glowing stone!!  He took the stone back to his cave.  The darker the cave was, the brighter the stone glowed.  This attracted other mice.  Everyone would like to have a glowing stone in their cave.  However, wise Balthazar told them, if they got anything from the island, they must give something in return.

In the end, there are two endings provided from the author---the happy ending and the sad ending.

ANALYSIS

CHARACTERS
Protagonist---Milo
Antagonist---(sad ending) other mice, the nature

SETTING
Backdrop Setting--- It was on a cliff in the middle of the sea

NARRATIVE POINT OF VIEW
Omniscient Narrator

PLOT
Plot Type--- Dramatic Plot
-Setting: On a cliff lived many mice
-Conflict: They all wanted to have a glowing stone like Milo's.
-Rising action: They started to look for stones.
-Climax:

• (sad ending) Most mice were too greedy and gather too many stones.
• (happy ending) Other mice gathered stones, but they remembered to place a gift where they had found their glowing stone.

-Denouement:

• (sad ending) Their cliff collapsed, only Milo and Balthazar were survived.
• (happy ending) In the widny winter, they could stay in the cave and let the stone lighting up the cave for them.

(Happy Ending)

(Sad Ending)





















CONFLICT
The protagonist against Another/Nature

THEME
Learn to be gratitude to our surroundings

STYLE

Word Choice--- some words are difficult, but helps children to learn new vocabulary
Sentence--- long sentences were most
Exposition--- most of the time the narrator told everything
Dialogue--- less dialogue

TONE
warm, ironic

REFLECTION
I really love the idea of providing two endings in the end.  No matter you love the happy ending or sad ending, it really tells us that every thought you have will change your life completely.  If the other mice have thankful heart in their mind, they wouldn't go into the sad ending and ruined their home.  What the wise Balthazar mouse said was right, if yo take something from the island, you must give something in return.  It also indicates that our human beings are too greedy to get everything from our nature.  Will us cause the same tragedy like these greedy mice?