A young boy talks about the things him and the wind like to do together.
1 book

This story captures the character of one of the natural world's most mysterious elements, describing its different forms in a way that a small child can easily grasp. The wind is faceless, and we view Gilberto mostly from the side or the back as he interacts with his invisible "friend." The illustrations, like many from the early 1960's, are rendered in three colors only, but Ets makes the most of them, creating dramatic contrasts and a mysterious mood.

Gilberto and the Wind is about a little boy who sees the wind as a friend he plays with. Gilberto explains how they play together with his balloon, the wash on the clothesline, and they race in the tall grass of the meadow. Gilberto tells us how the wind helps the older boys fly their kites but always drops his, and that when he has a pinwheel he blows it to show wind how it works then holds it up for him to blow. Finally at the end Gilberto tells us that some days wind is very tired, he calls out to wind to see where he is so wind rustles a leaf to show him. He then lies down beside him and they take a nap together under a tree.

This book was alright. I thought the story was fun and did a good job of showing how a small boy might see the wind. I didn’t care for the art work though.

1. Would be good to introduce a lesson on the elements such as the wind.
2. Could be used in a writing lesson to have the students create a story about something they can’t see, such as heat or gravity. Could be a class project where students give ideas and with the teachers help they shape a story as a group. ( )

Wind, Weather, Friendship, Personification ( )

This is the story of Gilberto, and his friend the wind. This book refers to the wind as a person. It calls him outside to play, and chases him in the fields. It refers to the wind as "trying on the clothes" when the wind blows the clothes on the line and fills them out like someone is wearing it. It also refers to how the wind is sometimes quiet, and loud and scary. When it's blowing hard he runs inside and locks the wind outside.

The kids didn't really seem to get this book. Personally I liked it, but the kids didn't really get the points that the book was making to refer to the wind as a person.

After reading the book, I had the kids paint by blowing in straws and making pictures of the "wind".