'Picture Books Do Still Work For Kids'

-
This article was sent to me by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick on Facebook. From CBSNews.com, it is written bu Dr. Deborah Pope, director of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. It (somewhat) addresses a previous article in The New York Times that stated parents have been pushing their children away from picture books and on to 'chapter books' in order to challenge them early to help them perform better in an increasingly competitive environment. But, as quoted here by Pope...
"If a parent pushes a child through their developmental stages too quickly, the child often ends up frustrated and behind later on",
 and further,
"Picture books nurture a child's ability to conceptualize. At this early stage, they're learning to connect the dots -- following the events of a story from beginning to end and linking images with words to develop the mind's eye. Armed with this experience, they'll eventually make an easy leap to more text-heavy chapter books."
Very valid points, indeed. I believe that we have developed a tendency to take picture books away from children at far to young an age. The development of their visual literacy allows them to create expanded patterns of thinking and reasoning. It increases the capacity for further and varying types of literacy throughout life. And the huge amount of joy picture books give children is irreplaceable. It's great to see an expert defend picture books.
For anyone interested in the many different aspects of picture books and childhood (and social/societal) development, I can whole-heartedly recommend the book How Picturebooks Work (Children's Literature and Culture) by Maria Nikolajeva and Carole Scott.

And, here's the link to the article: 

p.s. Thank you, Marie-Louise

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Rights of the Reader

-
Image
The Rights of the Reader; Daniel Pennac, illustrated by Quentin Blake Summer is here and we do encourage summer reading with numerous incentives and programmes. It is important for children (of all ages) to 'keep their reading up' outside of school time. This is the time when kids develop their own taste in books and can be free to read books of their own choosing. And this is the single most important factor in young people developing a lifelong reading habit. But how do we, as the 'gatekeepers' of kids reading, encourage them properly without running the risk of thrusting pressure and our own ideas on them? Do that and you'll run the risk of pushing them away from reading, and there are already so many distractions for the young reader to contend with that can tempt them elsewhere. Published by Walker Books; 9781406300918 In 1992, French writer Daniel Pennac originally published this little gem of a book; The Rights of the Reader. I highly recommend
Read more

The Summer of Lily and Esme by John Quinn....25 years

-
Image
This year marks the anniversary of the publication of an extraordinary book. In 1991, Poolbeg published The Summer of Lily & Esme by John Quinn and in the 25 years since, it has never been out of print. The Summer of Lily & Esme tells a quiet story, filled with compassion, friendship, memory and heart. It is the story of Alan, an 11-year-old boy who has moved from the city into a house in the countryside; in the middle of nowhere.The house is old and extremely large and immaculate; and there is a locked, boarded over attic room that is said to be haunted by the ghost of a young boy who died tragically. Alan is not too pleased with this move and becomes even less thrilled when he discovers his closest neighbours, in fact his only neighbours, are a pair of elderly sisters, Esme and Lily, who seem to be suffering from dementia.  When Alan falls down a hill of brambles and weeds, the sisters, who believe they themselves to be children, mistake Alan for their
Read more

Joyous Jolabokaflod!!!!

-
Image
For a book lover, Iceland has a very special tradition. Each year, in the few months before Christmas, Icelandic publishers release the majority of their books. This is "Jolabokaflod", or the Christmas Book Flood. Hundreds of books are published each year at this time, revealing just how strong a literary tradition exists in this small Northern island, dating back to medieval times. During World War II, there were strict currency restrictions, which limited the amount of imported giftware Iceland could take in. But paper itself was less restricted than other items, so this really led to books being seen as an ideal gift. Add that to the traditionally strong literary sector in Iceland, and the annual Book Flood really began in earnest. As Christmas nears, sometime around the end of October-beginning of November, a catalog is delivered to every house in Iceland, detailing the books available for that year. Iceland now represents one of the strongest book publishing countri
Read more