Capstone Project

The main character of the story is a puppy because 1.) kids love animals in stories and 2.) the reader will separate the innocent (the puppy) from the technologically-corrupted (the family). Originally, I had the main character as the little boy; however, little kids are just as involved in this technologically-advanced world- thus, I went with the most removed family member, the puppy.

Rhyming: helps children learn all sorts of new sounds and words. Rhyming also helps a child's cognitive development in learning how to predict: children are more likely to chime in with a story if they know the previous word that they are trying to rhyme with. Repetition:It is proven that kids learn a lot from repetition within stories. It increases their cognitive skills by encouraging memorization. Therefore, I chose to repeat lines through out the story and create this sort of "rhythm."

Why: Statistics prove that more boys than girls play video games. 14% of these boys have video games in their bedroom! Illustration: I wanted the reader to see the puppy's perspective, therefore I only show the very top of its head, as if we are its eyes looking out at the brother. The brother's back is turned to the puppy and he simply shoo's away the puppy without turning his head because he is too focused on his game.

Why: Statistics prove that 52% of children have access to one of the newer mobile devices. Illustration: The adult reader will notice that the girl is too busy taking a "selfie." The child reader will simply notice the cell phone in the girl's hand and the iPad laying next to her on the bed. Either way, the reader sees that the girl pays no attention to the puppy.

Illustration: I chose the mother to be using social media as a comic relief to the adult readers, for they are newer to this craze. And while the puppy is so excited that the mother is actually paying attention to him, he doesn't realize she is only taking a photo of him to post for her "friends" on her Facebook page. Adults can complain all they want about the kids' fascination with social media, but recently, they are no innocent party, themselves.

Illustration: I chose the father to be watching television because TV originated in his generation, while cell phones and social media didn't appear until much later.