LIFT written by Minh Lé and illustrated by Dan Santat is a picture book about sibling rivalry, anger and imaginative solutions. It is told in a comic book style replete with panels of scenes and balloons full of dialogue. The drawings offer the young reader a lively festival of facial expressions.
Iris loves taking the elevator whenever she, her mother, father and little baby brother come and go from their apartment. She thinks the elevator button is magical. And she always gets to push the button to call the elevator forth.
One day, however, little brother pushes the button before Iris can reach it. Her face turns green with envy. When father picks up little brother so he can do it again, Iris has a major melt down and pushes all of the floor stops at once breaking the elevator! A workman repairs it and throws the old button away. Iris takes it, goes back to her bedroom and tapes it to her door. Her spirits lift when the button lights up with a ding and her bedroom door opens up into a magical secret forest.
Iris continues to be angry with her brother even when the babysitter arrives. Eventually bedtime calls, but when Iris is fast asleep the button on her door again lights up with a ding. Iris slowly opens it and is lifted into the sky where she finds herself suited up for a space-walk! These illustrations are beautiful, imaginative and free of any trace of her anger. When she hears her little brother crying, however, she abandons space, goes back to the house and reads him his favorite story. All is forgiven.
LIFT written by Minh Lé and illustrated by Dan Santat is a beautiful story for children 5-8 years of age about how one little girl solves her problems through the lift of imaginary play (Little Brown Books, 2020).
Activity questions for LIFT
Iris’s feelings can be seen on her face throughout this book. Find and read each of the following illustrations and give each of Iris’s facial expressions an adjective : when she sees her little brother first push the elevator button; when she feels a betrayal; when she first hears the button ding in her bedroom; when she first walks into her magical forest; when her brother throws parts of the board game they are playing all around the room; when she is inside the space capsule; and when she goes through the magic door with her brother.
Who was Iris angry with throughout this story? Have you ever been angry? What was it about? Who were you mad at? How did you solve your problem? Draw a picture of yourself with your mad face on and include a short sentence that explains what has made you angry. Print your sentence inside a balloon---as is done in this comic style picture book. Use pencils, markers or crayons to bring out your facial expression. A tip: make your mad face in front of the mirror to get a good look at it before you start your drawing.
Why did the author name this book LIFT? What do you think the title means in relation to elevators as well as to feelings?
