In Barbara Joose’s Ghost Wings a young girl loses her grandmother to death and struggles to find hope in her loss. The story begins with a brief introduction saying butterflies come to a forest in Mexico in the Fall to gain strength to travel north, usually during the Springtime. The little girl has fond memories of going to the forest with her grandmother to see the butterflies, making tortillas and scaring away the monsters in her room. One day her grandmother becomes ill, loses weight and eventually passes away.
The girl is sad and confused at the loss of her grandmother. She no longer has anyone to scare away the bedroom monsters, make tortillas or see the butterflies with. While celebrating Dia de los Muertos and visiting her grandma’s grave she sees the first butterfly of the Fall. This reminds her of her grandmother, that even though something isn't around it still exists and becomes aware that everything lives on in one form.
Looking at the readability lexile, I would place the language in Ghost Wings at a Middle Elementary level because of it’s long sentences connected by commas, Spanish words and long length of the book. Cognitively, the text is middle elementary because of the serious subject matter of death and use of memory to fully understand the text (life before grandma died, life after grandma died and the differences that are observed). Socially, the text is between early and middle elementary because of the close ties to family (not yet gaining an individual identity) and the ability to understand others' point of view, specifically the young girl.
When examining the characteristics of high quality literature, the little girl faced a problem all of us, even adults, must deal with: coping with the death of a loved one. This is believable to readers because they may have already experience the situation the little girl and her family faces. The little girl overcomes her problem of grief by visiting her grandmother's grave on Dia de los Muertos and seeing the butterflies return (she and her grandmother would sit and watch the butterflies in the forest). Also, with the support and love of her mother and father she overcomes the loss and is content that her grandmother still lives on.
The main character, the girl, is many-sided. She is young, happy, inquisitive and loving. In contrast to this, she also feels sadness, confusion and eventually redemption as the death of her grandmother leads to acceptance. I did not see any weaknesses in her character, as she experienced many of the emotions others feel when someone close dies. These multi-level themes of love, death and acceptance are central to Ghost Wings and make this an effective book for those struggling to understand how to interpret the death of someone close.
Looking through the text, the main avenue readers have to use higher level thought processes is with the Spanish words. Phrases and words like: pan de los muertos (bread of the dead), las tumbas (graves) and offrendas (altars for someone or something) will all be unknown to many students. They will have to use text clues and pictures to understand what these words mean. Also, there is a line between fantasy and fact, especially when the book talks about, "Monsters in the bedroom" the little girl's grandma would scare away. There aren't really monsters in the room, but perhaps this is a metaphor that grandma makes her not afraid of things in the world and eases her worries.
The Hispanic culture is very prominent in Ghost Wings, and I really don't see any negative stereotypes within it. The characters are loving, kind and honest people who represent their culture and family dynamic in a respectful way that readers can appreciate. The text builds on a reader's knowledge of hispanic culture through pictures, explanations and words. This builds upon already existing knowledge within the school curriculum in the social studies vein by teaching students about different cultures. It also motivates readers to learn more about the Hispanic culture by portraying it positively, showing that they mourn death differently than in the U.S. and that there are similarities and differences between the two cultures.
Three literary elements I found in Ghost Wings were: characterization, setting as a mood and point of view.
In characterization, I found the grandmother character to be inspiring. She is an old, wise woman who cares for her family and especially the little girl. She passes on skills, such as making tortillas, telling stories and creates a sense of wonderment in the girl’s world. One example of this is when she and the girl are in the forest with the butterflies. She says, "The butterflies carry the souls of the old butterflies, so they never really leave." It was lessons like this that ultimately gave the girl hope after she passed away and the butterflies returned again.
The setting as a mood was shown by the butterfly migration. Had the butterflies not migrated to northern Mexico, the girl would have never understood the relationship between her grandmother's death and the return of the butterflies (we carry the past as part of us). The Mexican marketplace, cemetery and dining room (with offrenda) were all colorfully illustrated and connected with the words and overall theme of love, loss and eventual redemption. The mood of seeing all the butterflies in the cemetery at the end of the book shows this relationship again and sets a mood of reverence and acceptance of those who have passed away.
Finally, point of view was shown in the girl's struggles to understand life after her grandmother's death. She describes returning to the butterfly forest, not seeing the butterflies and feeling empty. She also says the monsters in her room returned and she could no longer smell the scent of cornmeal and roses (what her grandma smelled like). As I read, I got the impression this is how younger readers may interpret the death of a relative if they were in the position of the young girl.
Finally, point of view was shown in the girl's struggles to understand life after her grandmother's death. She describes returning to the butterfly forest, not seeing the butterflies and feeling empty. She also says the monsters in her room returned and she could no longer smell the scent of cornmeal and roses (what her grandma smelled like). As I read, I got the impression this is how younger readers may interpret the death of a relative if they were in the position of the young girl.
The illustrations in the text are made with watercolor paints and pale hues. I noticed the dimensionality of the illustrations are sometimes off or not to scale with real life. I believe this is a specific style and perhaps a representation of how the world didn't seem right to the little girl after her grandma passed away.
One idea I had for a mini lesson was to find out which butterflies migrate to and from Minnesota. You could find out how far their journey is, why they travel to certain places and how long they are in Minnesota. You could also teach the class the spanish word for butterfly and show some of the more exotic specimens to extend learning from the text.
Based on the above information, I believe the the target audience is middle elementary level students who are Hispanic, interested in other cultures or working through the death of a loved one.
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