Reading Picture Books with Children 5: Typography
Hi friends!
I have to say, I never thought I’d be writing a blog post about Typography! I’m learning so much from our book study! Have you had a chance to read Chapter 5 of Reading Picture Books with Children by Megan Dowd Lambert?
What is Typography?
On page 38, the author defines typography as “the arrangement and design of the words on the page… a visual representation of oral speech….” We, as school librarians, have the privilege of helping children to experience picture books spoken aloud as they learn how those spoken words tell a story. Our students learn to decode words in the classroom, but we get to bring those phonetic sounds to life with our story times!
Voices In the Park
Do you have this picture book in your collection? Look at the way that the different typefaces show different characters’ perspectives. The typography of the title on the front cover gives us a sneak preview of the differences.
This book would be fun to discuss with older students, too. I know that our students LOVE to spend time changing the font whenever they are creating a document or slide show. Voices in the Park would be a great picture book to share with them. We could talk about the impact of those font choices, and how they might sound different when read aloud. (I’ll be adding this to my next book order!)
Bully
As you watch this short video book trailer for Bully, you can hear how the children’s voices grow louder as the typeface grows larger, and grow softer when the typeface shrinks. A perfect illustration for the power of typography!
A Visitor for Bear and Library Lion are also good examples of how large capital letters make us read them LOUDLY! Have you ever tried the author’s strategy of reading those big capital letters in a whisper voice to see what your students say?
Give ‘Em Helvetica
Should typography be integrated (almost invisible), rather than distracting? Apparently this is an opposing school of thought in picture book studies. Personally, I prefer the picture books with typography that adds to the story, rather than blending in.
I’ll be watching as I read stories aloud to my students to observe the impact of typography on our discussions. How about you?
As always when I finish a chapter in this book, I cannot wait to get back to my school library and find the books mentioned. I’ve mentally noted interesting typography through the years. Now I wish I had made a list! Does anyone else have books they’d like to mention?
One of my favorite books is Oliver Finds His Way by Phyllis Root. Not only do I love the pictures–but my kindergarten students love roaring louder and louder as the words get larger.
I haven’t read that book, Kay–thanks for sharing! I’ll look for it now!
Cari
As a teacher, you notice the typography in the stories you read to the students and assume that they see and understand the things you noticed about the lettering. This chapter made me see that not all of my students might be noticing the lettering used and how it plays a role in the entire story. Thanks to this chapter, I am more aware of the lettering and how it impacts the story. It is one more element to bring into story time that will help our students enjoy the books we share with them.
Thanks for your comment, Patty! I completely agree that we can do more to help our students enjoy the many elements of the picture books we share with them!
Cari
One more book is “A Library book for Bear”. Fun read. I tried some of this with my second graders today and told the part where the author yells because the book told her to do it! They loved it! I happened to be sharing a book with an all caps sentence, and they got it! Even talked to me again about it at the end of the day. This whole book has been eye opening really!