"Just the Two of Us"

Just the Two of Us
Written by: Will Smith

Illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Published by: Scholastic Press in NY in 2001

ISBN: 0-439-08792-9

Genre: Picture Book

Reading Level: Grade 2

Activity Level: Grade 2

Summary: This is a book about the love of a father for his son. Before the story begins, Will Smith provides readers with some background information about his life and gives us a context for this story. He tells readers that he always wanted to build a castle in the sky and his parents gave him a piece of paper and a pencil and said “let’s draw the plans” and he tells his son that. The part about “castle sin the sky” is references throughout the book. When the book begins, the father is frightened about how to be a good father because he is so young, but then realizes that things will be alright due to his immense love for his child, even when his marriage does not work. He gives his son advice for his life about girls, not fighting others, talking with God, and reminds him that he will always love his son. This book is written as a rhyming poem and significant words on each pager are in bold in a larger font than the rest of the words, so that they make a statement along with the illustrations.

Response: After reading this book I think that every father should purchase this text for his child(ren). This is one of those books that you read and when you come to the end, you close the cover very slowly and all you can say is WOW! Wow to the always outstanding illustrations of Kadir Nelson, wow to the words of the poem (also a song) by Will Smith, wow to the love of a father for his son and wow to the fact that someone constantly in the limelight, like Will Smith can actually be a person of substance unlike so many in his line of employment.

One cannot possible respond to a book illustrated by Mr. Nelson without commenting on his extraordinary illustrations! All I can say is when you read this book to children in a classroom, do not show them the illustrations before you read or while you are reading the text because even an adult would not focus on the words. The detail the he puts into his illustrations in remarkable. His backgrounds in some of them in this book are a little lacking, in my opinion, but the faces, the stature of the characters, and the attention to detail the Kadir Nelson provides in his illustrations is amazing. There is not an illustration in this book that I love as much as the one in Moses, but Kadir Nelson did not disappoint his fans by these illustrations by any means.

Teaching Connections: This book could be used in a second grade class to talk about families. The teacher could have had the students working on a project where they are creating their family trees and then she could read this book to them about fathers and how they feel about their children. She should be aware that some children are going to pose and opposition to that and make comments about their own fathers that will not represent them in a positive light. However, an ensuing discussion about this could help students recognize the differences in some families and that people are not always as this father seems to be. It could be a tricky lesson, but I believe it would be a greatly beneficial one for students.

Note: This book does reference God and prayers, so the teacher may need to point out that not everyone believes in Him or in the same way, but that this is a representation of this father’s beliefs.What Students Learn: From this book and the activity students can learn about one father’s love for his son and about how families are different and people are different.

Image Retrieved From: http://aalbc.com/willsamith_justthetwoofus.jpg.