Tyler Evans the Great

Tyler Evans the Great is the internal dialogue of Tyler Andrew Evans, a young boy with a mom, an older brother Matt, a dog named Gretzky, and a cat named Mario. He has two friends, Aidan and Sarah.

Tyler wants to be a hero, and he is trying to figure out what that means. The story starts with Tyler’s making a hero potion, but the mixture, which included blue food dye, only made a mess for his mother to clean up. That was not being a hero.

At school, Tyler is bullied by Josh who steals his lunch and teases him mercilessly. Tyler retaliates by stealing Josh’s milk. The result of that encounter was a phone call from Mrs. Biggs, Tyler’s teacher. Even though Mom is somewhat sympathetic, she wants Tyler to smarten up. That is not being a hero.

While Tyler was playing outside with Mario, the cat, a robin appeared. Tyler threw a stick at the robin to save it from Mario who was about to pounce. He also rescued a caterpillar from the birds. He brought the caterpillar inside for safety. These actions made Tyler feel like a hero. Instead of putting the caterpillar in a jar like Mom said, Tyler put it on one of Mom’s plants so it would have something to eat.

Back at school, Tyler and Aidan were playing on the swings when Sarah walked by. Tyler and Sarah collided, ending up with a scraped knee for Sarah and a nosebleed for Tyler. To make matters worse, Matt, his brother, saw what happened and called Tyler a crybaby. This time, Mrs. Biggs phoned home to tell Mom about Tyler’s accident and about Matt’s behaviour towards Tyler. Mom came to pick Tyler up from school, and later Matt was punished by being banished to his room.

The next day, Tyler and Sarah were playing outside at Tyler’s house when they heard a bird chirping in the bushes. Soon after, Mario, the cat, came out of the bushes with a dead bird in his mouth. Matt saw the dead bird and buried it. This time Matt was the hero. When the children came inside, they brought more caterpillars with them and put them on Mom’s plant.

The next day, Tyler was playing soccer in the yard with Aidan. When Tyler ran to kick the ball, his shoe flew off and ended up stuck in a tree. Mom tried to get the shoe down but couldn’t. When Matt came home, he was able to get the shoe down. Matt was the hero this time.

Matt liked to play video games, but he would never let Tyler play with him. One day, while Matt was playing Monster Quest, Gretzky, the dog came in and barfed close to Matt. In disgust, Matt jumped up and ran away. While Gretzky ate up his own barf, Tyler took the opportunity to take the controls and save Matt’s character from a monster and poison spears. Matt was so surprised and impressed by what Tyler did that he asked Tyler to play with him. This time, Gretzky was the hero.

At school again, Josh stomped on Tyler’s foot and when Tyler’s shoe fell off, Josh ran away with it. This time, it was Sarah who saw what was happening. She jumped from the monkey bars, on to Josh and got the shoe back. Now Sarah was the hero. Josh, in the meantime was hurt.

The next day Josh showed up to school with crutches. Everyone wanted to try them, but Josh said only Tyler could. That made Tyler feel somewhat like a hero. At home, Tyler, Aidan and Sarah were playing. Aidan wanted to play video games with Matt, but Matt said, “No. Just my brother.” When the children noticed the butterflies around Mom’s plant, they caught them in glass jars to take outside. Matt asked if he could come too. They all saw the butterflies go and suddenly Tyler felt like a hero.

Children can identify with Tyler’s struggle to be a hero (do the right thing). His interactions with others, such as his brother, Josh, the bully, his friends, and his mom are typical. Tyler’ efforts to be a hero pay off at the end of the story. He has earned a grudging respect and acceptance from his brother Matt and bully Josh. The butterflies that emerge from Tyler’s rescued caterpillars are a metaphor for Tyler’s emerging self-confidence.