Pencil and Eraser : Lost and Frown!

by Jenny Alvarado

Jenny Alvarado’s illustrated fiction pairs Pencil and Eraser as personified school-supply characters in an adventure whose title playfully turns “lost and found” into “lost and frown.” The unlikely pair offers a starting point for exploring contrasting personalities, emotional reactions, and how characters respond to a problem. Teaching note: No synopsis or interior pages were supplied, so confirm plot details during your preview; the guide below avoids assuming specific events or quoting unverified text.

Big Idea

Characters can experience the same problem differently, and those differences can shape both humor and problem-solving. Writers control how readers experience a story through words, illustrations, pauses, and page turns.

Discussion Questions

1.What do Pencil’s and Eraser’s words, expressions, and actions reveal about their personalities? Which details support your thinking?
2.How do Pencil and Eraser respond to the story’s problem? Where do their responses help or complicate the situation?
3.Why might the author have chosen “Lost and Frown!” instead of “lost and found”? How does that choice influence your expectations?
4.Where did you want to turn the page quickly, and where did you want to stop and look? What made you respond that way?
5.What do the illustrations tell you that the words do not? How would the story change if we could only hear it?

Lesson Plan

⏱ 45–50 minutes📦 A copy of the book, drawing paper, pencils, erasers, crayons or markers, chart paper, and optional sticky notes.

Learning Goals

Describe Pencil and Eraser using evidence from their words, actions, and illustrated expressions.
Explain how words and pictures work together to communicate a story problem and characters’ responses.
Sequence an original narrative with a problem, contrasting reactions, an attempt, and an outcome.
Use dialogue, punctuation, or visual spacing deliberately to influence reading pace.
Revise a comic after hearing a partner read it aloud.

Activity Steps

1.Read the book aloud, pausing sparingly for predictions. Afterward, revisit a spread that clearly shows how Pencil and Eraser respond to a problem.
2.Make a two-column character chart. Record evidence about each character, distinguishing what the book shows from what readers infer.
3.Model a new companion-story premise: Pencil and Eraser notice a misplaced classroom object. Think aloud about how their established personalities could shape different responses.
4.Have students fold paper into four panels and plan: introduce the problem, show two reactions, try a solution, and reveal an outcome. K–1 students may draw and dictate; grades 2–5 can add dialogue and captions.
5.Ask students to include one quick moment and one deliberate pause, using short dialogue, an enlarged expression, an uncluttered panel, or punctuation. Partners read the comics aloud and identify those choices.
6.Students revise one panel, then share how their pacing choice affects the reader. Display the comics as imagined companion adventures, not events from the published book.

Standards Connections

ELA: RL.K.3, RL.1.3, RL.2.3 — Identify characters and major events; describe characters and their responses to challenges.
ELA: RL.K.7, RL.1.7, RL.2.7 — Use illustrations and text together to understand characters, setting, and events.
ELA: RL.3.3, RL.4.3, RL.5.3 — Describe and compare characters, drawing on specific details from the text.
ELA: W.K.3–W.5.3 — Develop narratives through drawing, dictation, or writing, with grade-appropriate sequencing, details, and dialogue.
SEL: Social awareness and relationship skills — Consider differing perspectives and evaluate how characters respond to a shared problem.

Pace-Write-Read Study with Pace-Write It!

Pace-Write-Read connects three experiences: noticing how a published story moves, trying a similar craft choice in original writing, and reading the result aloud to test its effect. In Pencil and Eraser: Lost and Frown!, begin with the title itself. Replacing “found” with “frown” changes a familiar expression into an emotional joke, showing students how a small word choice can establish tone and create curiosity before the story begins. During the read-aloud, investigate how Alvarado presents Pencil and Eraser through language and pictures. Compare a passage students want to read quickly with one that invites a longer look: does the difference come from dialogue, action, an expression, text placement, or the amount of visual information? Treat these as evidence-seeking questions rather than assuming that every listed technique appears in the book. Then transfer one observed technique into a short companion comic. Younger students can experiment through drawing and oral storytelling; older students can explain how their wording and layout influence a reader’s speed. The goal is purposeful pacing, not simply faster reading: readers sometimes need momentum, and sometimes they need time to notice, wonder, or feel.

Element	How to notice or teach it in the novel
1. Pacing	After reading, identify one Pencil-and-Eraser moment that feels quick and another that feels slower. Ask students to connect each impression to visible evidence in the words or pictures.
2. Plot	Map the book’s actual opening situation, central problem, attempts, and outcome. Notice which events change Pencil and Eraser’s situation rather than merely adding information.
3. Prosody	Read a brief exchange twice, varying speed, emphasis, and pitch. Decide which version best matches Pencil’s and Eraser’s illustrated expressions and the meaning of their words.
4. Word	Compare “found” and “frown” in the title. Discuss how changing a few letters shifts a familiar phrase toward emotion and humor.
5. Concept	Explore the central imaginative move of giving a pencil and an eraser personalities. Ask how familiar classroom tools become characters readers can care about.
6. Voice & Worldview	Collect examples of what Pencil and Eraser say or do when faced with a difficulty. Use those examples to discuss how each character seems to view the situation, avoiding personality labels unsupported by the book.
7. Point of View	Determine how readers receive the story: through narration, character speech, pictures, or a combination. Retell a selected moment in Pencil’s voice and then Eraser’s, labeling these retellings as student interpretations.
8. Setting & Place	Use the illustrations to identify where the adventure takes place and what establishes scale for these small characters. Ask how the same location might feel different to a child and to a pencil.
9. Original Characters	Examine how Alvarado makes two everyday supplies recognizable as distinct individuals. Students can design another school-supply character whose behavior connects to—but is not limited by—its ordinary function.
10. Dialogue	Select an exchange between Pencil and Eraser and discuss what it reveals beyond the basic events. Assign roles and test how the timing between replies affects the scene.
11. Details	Invite students to locate a small expression, gesture, or background detail that changes their understanding of a moment. Explain how that detail rewards a slower second look.
12. Descriptions	Compare information conveyed by any descriptive wording with information supplied by the artwork. Have students describe one illustration orally, then consider how much longer that description takes than looking.
13. Firsts	Study the first appearance of Pencil and Eraser and the first clear sign of a problem. Ask what readers learn immediately and what they still need to discover.
14. Immediacy & Engagement	Identify the earliest moment that makes students curious about the pair’s adventure. Discuss whether a visual situation, a character reaction, or a line of text creates that curiosity.
15. Story Scenes, Summaries & Structures	Choose a moment presented directly through action or dialogue, then summarize it in one sentence. Compare the reading time and emotional effect of the scene with the summary.
16. Tension / Suspense / Surprise	Pause before a reveal in the actual book and ask what students expect to happen to Pencil and Eraser. Afterward, distinguish uncertainty about the outcome from surprise at what occurs.
17. Flashback, Flash-Forward, Cliffhanger	Check whether the book includes a time shift or leaves an outcome briefly unresolved; do not assume all three devices appear. If time shifts are absent, students can invent a clearly labeled memory panel and consider whether it interrupts the adventure’s momentum.
18. Page Turns and Chapter Breaks	Inspect what readers know just before and just after a selected page turn. Use the book’s actual divisions—pages, spreads, or panels—and discuss chapter breaks only if the edition contains them.
19. Pace & Creativity	Redraw one Pencil-and-Eraser moment as a single image and then as three small panels. Compare how each version changes attention, anticipation, and reading speed.
20. Play	Use “Lost and Frown!” as a model for playful language experimentation. Students can alter another familiar school-related phrase and explain how the change suggests a new mood or story.
21. Performance	Perform a short exchange with two readers and a third student providing silent gestures. Notice how a delayed response or held expression can create humor without adding words.
22. Personality	Build evidence-based personality descriptions for Pencil and Eraser. Ask which reactions seem characteristic and whether either character behaves differently as the adventure develops.
23. Humor	Begin with the title’s wordplay, then locate another moment students find funny. Ask whether the humor depends on language, expressions, contrasting reactions, or the timing of a reveal.
24. Pause	Find a moment when looking silently at Pencil or Eraser adds meaning. Practice holding that pause during a read-aloud rather than filling it with explanation.
25. Poetry / Poetic Devices	Listen for any alliteration, rhyme, sound effects, or patterned language actually present in the text. Distinguish the title’s playful phrase substitution from a claim that the whole book is written in verse.
26. Repetition	Check for repeated words, visual gestures, or kinds of reactions involving Pencil and Eraser. If a pattern appears, discuss how recognition prepares readers for either repetition or a change.
27. Rhythm	Tap the beat of a short exchange and compare the lengths of the characters’ turns. Explore how a brief reply after a longer speech can change the comic rhythm.
28. Punctuation	Start with the exclamation point in “Lost and Frown!” and test the title with different punctuation. Then examine how punctuation in the actual dialogue guides expression and stopping.
29. Questions	Separate questions spoken by characters from questions the story raises in readers’ minds. Track one reader question about Pencil and Eraser until the book answers it—or leaves it open.
30. Compare-Contrast	Compare Pencil and Eraser’s responses to the same event using text and illustration evidence. Discuss how contrast can keep a two-character scene lively without requiring constant new action.
31. Objects	Consider how the characters’ identities as tools influence their visual design and possible actions. Separate abilities actually demonstrated in the book from abilities students imagine for new adventures.
32. Threes	Look for any genuine three-part sequence of actions, reactions, or images. If none appears, use a student-created three-beat sequence to explore setup, expectation, and a final twist.
33. Lists	Make a list of actions Pencil and Eraser take during the adventure, then select only the events essential to retelling it. If the book contains a list, compare its reading rhythm with a full scene.
34. White Space & Negative Space	Compare less crowded and more crowded areas of the book’s actual layouts. Ask how open space affects attention to a character’s expression or the perceived size of the surrounding world.
35. Art & Graphics	Study how line, color, lettering, and facial expressions help readers follow Pencil and Eraser. Find a place where the art carries information a writer would otherwise need to explain.
36. Interactives & Gamification	Turn a second reading into an evidence hunt for contrasting reactions, visual clues, and pause-worthy moments. Present this as a classroom reading game, not as an interactive feature the book necessarily contains.
37. Placement	Follow the placement of text and characters across a selected spread to determine reading order. Ask how moving a reply or reveal might make students encounter information too early or too late.
38. Form	Examine how this edition combines pictures, dialogue, narration, and any panels. Discuss why that visual storytelling form suits an adventure about two personified supplies.
39. Dummy	Explain that a dummy is a rough model used to plan a book’s pages and turns. Students can fold a miniature companion book and place Pencil and Eraser’s problem before a turn and its outcome after it.
40. Passion	Ask students which aspect of Pencil and Eraser most invites them to create: the school-supply premise, the wordplay, the expressions, or the relationship. Have them use that interest to guide one deliberate choice in their own comic.

Pace-Write It!

20-minute Pace-Write-It! task: “Hold That Frown!” Minutes 0–3 — NOTICE: Revisit one actual spread in which Pencil and Eraser react to a problem. Identify the evidence for each reaction and one feature that affects pace: a short reply, an expression, a pause, or a reveal. Minutes 3–5 — PLAN: Introduce an invented companion scene: Pencil and Eraser discover a classroom object in an unexpected place. Students select the object and plan responses consistent with the character evidence they just collected; this is a new story, not a retelling of an unverified book event. Minutes 5–12 — WRITE AND DRAW: Create four panels: discovery, Pencil’s reaction, Eraser’s reaction, and an outcome. Include one fast beat using brief words or action and one slow beat using a held expression, minimal text, or extra open space. K–1 students may dictate or use drawings; grades 2–5 add dialogue and intentional punctuation. Minutes 12–16 — READ: Partners perform their comics aloud, following the intended pauses. The listener points out the fastest and slowest moments and explains which clues produced that effect. Minutes 16–19 — REVISE: Change one feature—word count, punctuation, expression, or layout—to make the intended pacing clearer. Read the changed section again to test it. Minutes 19–20 — REFLECT: Complete the exit statement, “I made readers slow down or speed up when I ___.” Materials: the book, paper, pencils, and optional crayons.

Classroom Activities

One Problem, Two Reactions

Students create a four-panel companion comic starring Pencil and Eraser. After identifying an actual problem and contrasting reactions in the book, students invent a new, clearly labeled adventure in which the pair encounters a misplaced classroom object. They use dialogue, expressions, and panel spacing to make one moment move quickly and another invite a pause.

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