Chapter 4- Picturebooks: Beyond Words and Illustrations

            Picturebooks have a unique format that is defined by words and illustrations rather than genre. They come in many forms, shapes, and sizes. They can be board books, toy books, pop-up books, and storybooks. Picturebooks contain stories of fiction: realistic, historical, and fantasy. Some picture books even consist of poetry, folktales, biographies, information, and concepts. It is important to realize that no other type of literature works in the same way.

             Several studies have shown that reading is a meaning making process. This process is supported and facilitated by children’s ability to respond to visual cues with text (Elster, 1998; Golden & Gerber, 1990). “The ultimate purpose of analysis and criticism should be to assist us in returning to any given picturebook with the power of seeing and feeling more intensely, thereby increasing our pleasure and capacity for wonder” (Sipe, 2001, p.39). It is important to realize that a carefully planned picturebook will effectively employ design elements to bring the reader into the book. This can be done from the front cover, endpages, title page, and dedication to a satisfying close. Without illustrations it would be difficult for the reader to imagine a scene from a different perspective. The authors of picturebooks do not have to say everything they want readers to know because the illustrations show what the author leaves out. It is because picturebooks are categorized by their unique format and not by genre that they employ both narrative and expository writing.

             The book offered a variety of ideas students can to with picture books. One idea was creating flip books. The link provided, http://pinterest.com/pin/43487952622101911/, is an example of an animal habitat flip book students can create themselves. This link, http://pinterest.com/pin/283304632778754151/, offers a simple tutorial for creating another flip book for children. Another idea that I thought was great to use for picture books was an author study. I believe that students should learn about the author, where they get there inspiration, and how they began their journey of becoming an author. This link, http://www.readingrockets.org/content/pdfs/authortoolkit_rr.pdf, is great to help understand the aspects of an author study. It provides a large amount of information that is very helpful when creating an author study. You will find more links for chapter four in the right column. These links include: American Library Association’s Caldecott Medal, American Library Association’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens, Children’s Picturebook Database, The Graphic Classroom, and Picturing Books.