June 29, 1999 - Science Fiction Picturebook

     

Holly in "June 29, 1999" by David Wiesner

      If interested in viewing and reading a picturebook that had very little verbiage, this would be the one to view. June 29, 1999 by author and illustrator David Wiesner is packed full of the most stunning full page pictures that I have seen thus far.

      A young girl named Holly, who resides in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, is an amateur scientist and for a school science experiment she "intends to study the effects of extra-terrestrial conditions on vegetable growth and development." After bringing in to her class the information and samples of what was to launch into the sky, "her classmates are speechless." Hence, to her shock and dismay five weeks later the news is reporting that gigantic vegetables are landing in various places in the United States. At first she thought it was the seedlings she launched into the ionosphere; however, vegetables were landing on the earth that she did not launch. Puzzled, she sits in her backyard on a enormous broccoli stem to ponder the situation.

      As it turns out, life from another planet and hemisphere was in the ionosphere touring the planets. By accident, the assistant fry cook "jettisoned the entire food supply" out of the spaceship. The story abruptly ends with the shocked faces of the extra-terrestrial beings as they are now left without food.

An Iowa farmer is joyful that he can finally win the blue ribbon at the state fair
for the largest grown crop item.

      
      In order to adequately understand the entire book, the reader must have reasoning and thinking abilities as the pictures tell much of the story. Therefore, this book is for children in 3rd to 6th grades. 

      This book was interesting as the plot is about elementary children doing an experiment.   However, if the pictures did not heavily tell the story, the reader would be lost and struggle with the conclusion of the story.  Classroom discussion by the teacher could include research on what happens in the ionosphere, if anything, and continued viewing of the pictures to see what each student could discover in the background, in addition to how many emotions can be seen on the faces of individuals in the book. 

Reader Response Questions

1. What were the names of the vegetable seeds that Holly planted in the cups and sent into the ionosphere?

2. Do you think that Holly's teacher in the classroom is pleased with her experiment? Why or why not?

Reference

Wiesner, D. (1992). June 29, 1999. New York: Clarion Books.