Reading Picture Books with Children Chapter 1

Hi friends!

I’m so glad you joined me for our virtual book club! Have you read the the front matter and Chapter 1 of Reading Picture Books with Children?

Front Matter

I *loved* the quote from Chris Raschka in the Foreword! To me, it sums up our job as librarians.

book to heart

Did you like the word “bookness” in the Preface? On page xi, Ms. Lambert describes her Whole Book Approach story times as a “rich opportunity for books that make the most of what might be called their bookness.” I think this really sets the tone for talking about the physical parts of picture books that we hold in our hands as we reach out to our students. And, I have to admit, that I have not spent much time thinking about the “bookness” of books!

Introduction

A phrase that stood out to me on page xix was: “shift from what literacy experts call ‘performance story times’ to leading ‘co-constructive’ story times.” That is definitely the shift I want to make through reading and learning from this book. I do sometimes feel like my story time is a performance, with voices and gestures. How about you?

Chapter 1: That’s About the Size of It

On page 4, the author points out that “[o]ne notable feature of most picture books is that they are sized to comfortably accommodate a shared reading audience, as opposed to a solitary one.” She says that we form a circle as we share books with students. I love that image!

Sometimes I feel like a library class is “me” (the teacher) and “them” (my students). My mind is shifting to embrace the idea that we are a circle of readers, sharing a book together.

Have you been looking at whether the books you read have a landscape or portrait orientation?

Do you give your students “intellectual hugs” (p. 11) by acknowledging their observations and perceptions about the picture books?

Did you have to look up the word “metafictive” on page 12 like I did? Wikipedia says: Metafiction is a literary device used self-consciously and systematically to draw attention to a work’s status as a work of imagination, rather than reality. It poses questions about the relationship between fiction and reality, usually using irony and self-reflection.

What did you think?

I would love to hear from you with a comment:

  • What quotes stood out to you?
  • What questions came up in your mind as you read?
  • What strategies from the book have you already tried?

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p.s.–You asked for a more interactive way to discuss the book, so I’ve created this padlet. Feel free to post your thoughts and questions here!

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And of course you can always comment on Library Learners blog posts on the Library Learners Facebook page! 

 

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    11 Comments

    1. I am enjoying this book very much!!

      I love reading picture books to my students, and I have always been drawn (no pun intended) to the illustrations, and how the artist creates the visual interpretation of the words. I found that I am intuitively reading picture books using the whole book approach. As the Creative Librarian* I enjoy sharing the details of the illustrations, the cover and end page artwork, and being expressive in my reading of the words. I talk about the layout of the book, the perspectives of the art, etc. and will compare different versions of a story (such as the folk tale, Jack and the Beanstalk) and discuss with my students how, and why, the author and illustrator focused on, or changed, different parts of the story. Janet Stevens wrote books From Pictures to Words: A Book About Making a Book and What Do Illustrators Do? about the creation process from both the author and illustrator’s points of view. These have been very helpful to me, too.

      Quotes / phrases/ words that stood out:

      In addition to the quotes you mentioned, these stood out to me [page xix] “Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS)” – Asking the questions, “What’s going on in this picture?”, What do you see that makes you say that?”, and “What more can we find?” — I think these could work very well especially when reading wordless picture books. Also, I really like that she labeled the parts of the book!

      Question/Comment:
      Is there going to be the ability to read the comments of others, and have some dialog with the other participants of this virtual book club?

      *The Creative Librarian: Adventures in School Librarianship: https://melissalewismcdonald.wordpress.com/

    2. The quote that stood out for me was :” The picture book form is thus one area in which size does matter”. The lovely lady who volunteers to shelve books for me asked this very question a few weeks ago! She said to me Why do they make these books all different sizes? I couldn’t really answer until I read this book! This leads me to the question that I have” How can we use these different sizes to our advantage to enhance the young reader and listener experience? I am hoping that will be answered in further reading. I have not used any of the content yet with students.

      Looking forward to hearing all of your wonderful ideas and sharing more of this great book!

    3. I too sometimes feel the same as you when you mentioned above ” “me” (the teacher) and “them” (my students).” I agree with you that I too would like to find different ways to making read alouds more meaningful to students. I like the concept of this book and look forward to learning about making read alouds more engaging.

      The quote that stood out to me was “I’d just have to learn to think with my eyes.” I am by no means an artist but I like how she states that we don’t have to be an artist to understand and share with others. I think we all can learn to think with our eyes and maybe teach our students to do the same.

      I never thought about book size until she mentioned this in our reading. Now that I think about it, it makes sense to include during story times. I believe many students will be able to provide a reason why the book is vertical or horizontal. It will provide an interesting discussion. I look forward to asking my classes about the size of the book and hearing their comments.

    4. I have already started asking my students about the size of a book. The book we were reading was “Ballet Cat, the se cret secret.” One first grade girl got right away that the book didn’t need to be too big, because there were only 2 characters. Wow!

    5. I love the with instead of to in the title! I always said reading with my children and grandchildren, but to my classes! I am trying to get more conversations started and to give “intellectual hugs” when I am reading with them. I find that children are very perceptive.

    6. I have loved reading everyone’s comments so far as well as the book! I loved the quote about size really does matter. Again I had never really thought about size and shape of books before except in the case of Beatrix Potter. I had know her story and reasons, but didn’t apply it to the books I shared with my students or my own children. I am starting Eric Carle author study this week with kindergartens and can’t wait to work this in with Hungry Caterpillar and Little Cloud. Hopefully they “get it” too.

    7. While reading about the size and orientation of illustrations, I found myself thinking about some of the lessons I have with students. The students discuss what images are in the text to support the story, and the analyze how well the illustrator conveyed a message. A book that came to my mind was Tar Beach, by Faith Ringgold. I never really thought about the size of the book, or how portrait and landscape are used. This will definitely be a topic of discussion for next time.

      I like the idea of the “dramatic stage” that is presented to students when reading a picture book to them.

    8. I read this book back in November and immediately started talking about the orientation of the book with my K students. To this day they like to tell me what it is when I read a book to them. We also have had discussions on why an author would pick that orientation.

    9. It was interesting to read about size, as I had happened to pull out the library’s collection of big picture books for students to look through on the floor with a partner, after they checked out this week. The students (grades 2-5) loved this special treat and I must do it more often. What a fun way to share a book!

    10. I especially loved Chris Rascka’s point that books are “very thingy.” “There is a fundamental joy in it,” he says. Who hasn’t perused the shelves and exclaimed in delight when we find a beloved book we haven’t seen in a long time? It’s like running into an old friend unexpectedly.

      I also liked this quote from the preface: “children’s active participation in making meaning of all they see and hear during a picture book reading takes precedence over moving through the pages at the pace of an adult’s oral reading of the text.” I think this is some good guidance for making storytime less of a performance and more of a “co-constructive” experience.

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