Genre
Children's Adventure
Setting and Context
America, Current Time - The book takes place in a neighborhood where children play outdoors.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person limited
Tone and Mood
Tone - gentle; mood - trepidatious
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonists - Omri, Patrick, Boone, Little Bear; Antagonist - fears regarding the possibility of a discovery
Major Conflict
Omri must attempt to make a world for a minuscule human, but Omri cannot help enough to get caught.
Climax
Patrick is called to the Headmaster's office.
Foreshadowing
The reader sees how Patrick conceived of his gift, and Banks pauses after the description of the key.
Understatement
The boys understate what would occur in the event of a security breach.
Allusions
Banks alludes to historical events in the development of the United States, especially the development of the Western Frontier in the early 1800s.
Imagery
Imagery abounds in the descriptions of the figurines so the reader can comprehend their size.
Paradox
The strongest characters are the tiny ones; they know what to do with food, but only Omri can obtain it.
Parallelism
The boys spend time together, and, at the same time and in the same place, the figurines get to know one another.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Metonymy - helping the stunned Mrs. Hunt address the boys
Synecdoche - representing Omri's father's crops
Personification
The figurines come to life, so they are not personified. The pet rat is personified as it moves beneath the floorboards.
