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Archives For November 30, 1999

10 for 10 Picture Books (They’re Not Just for Kindergarten Any More!)

August 10, 2013 — 9 Comments

I hold up the book I will be reading aloud, Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat. The students start commenting:

This is one of my favorite books…
I love Thing #1 and Thing #2!
I (loved) or I (hated) the movie!
Can we read Green Eggs and Ham, too?

Cat in Hat book coverI settle the students down and begin,

“The sun did not shine.
It was too wet to play.
Just sit in the house all that cold, cold wet day.”

32 eyes blink brightly up at the pages as I turn them.
Several mouths move without sound to recite along with me.
The students are mesmerized.

Oh, did I mention that these are seniors in high school?

I am using a picture book to explain Freud’s theory of the Id, Ego and Superego (see post). Thing #1 and Thing #2 represent Id, and that righteous fish? The Superego. Yes, Dr. Seuss is great for psychological literary criticism, but he is not the only picture book in my repertoire of children’s literature used in high school. Here are a few of my favorites to use and why:

Tuesday by David Wiesner_CoverTuesday by David Weisner. We use this text for our 9th grade mythology unit because a myth explains the unexplainable. Our students have to create a myth for why frogs might lift off from a local pond and terrorize some inhabitants of a small town (see post).

The Monsters’ Monster by Patrick McDonnell. This mash-up of the 1931 film Frankenstein and Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel is ideal to stimulate discussion on the relationship between a creator and the created. In McDonnell’s version, however, the Monster is sensitive, compassionate, with more of an interest in warm, powdered jelly doughnuts than in seeking vengeance…a nice break from the rigors of Advanced Placement English Literature.coverbook_monsters-monster

the-arrival-by-shaun-tanThe Arrival by Shaun Tan. Surreal images capture the point of view of an immigrant experience which makes this wordless text ideal for students who are studying Ellis Island or Angel Island. Many of the illustrations are available on the website so students can look at the haunting pictures on their own devices as well.

Harris BurdickThe Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg. A book full of provocative images that has inspired thousands of stories explaining the mysteries in each sepia toned drawing. This book is wonderful for writing classroom, and there have been contests for the best stories written by children. Celebrated children’s authors have also taken an opportunity to try their imaginations using the pictures as story prompts in The Chronicles of Harris Burdick.

The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone; illustrated by Mark Smollin and There’s a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer. Both of these books have been incorporated into our Heroes and Monsters English IV (grade 12) elective. I use them as a starting point for an inquiry project about images of monsters given to children contrasted with the images of monsters we know as adults. Most students discuss the “fuzzy factor” with cute, loveable old Grover as something they remember fondly. They also remember very clearly the monster that lived in their closets. The anxiety of Mayer’s “Nightmare”, sobbing at the foot of the bed, usually brings about a discussion of facing fears.

grover

There are YouTube Videos for students to watch in advance of class (flipped classroom):  The Monster at the End of this Book and There’s a Nightmare in My Closet

Nightmare

Fredrick

Fredrick by Leo Lionni. What does the poet do for society? This little fable answers that question and works well in any poetry unit. Frederick’s use of language paints pictures in the minds of the other mice who are struggling through a particularly bleak winter season. There is a delightful video recording of this to share in class or to have students watch on their own (flipped classroom).

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka; illustrated by Lane Smith. Want a lesson on point of view? This retake of the three little pigs is one of the best ways to present the advantages of this literary device to students of all ages. In his explanation of the story, A. Wolf comes across the first little pig after the house of straw caved in. With culinary justification, he says,

True story“It seemed like a shame to leave a perfectly good ham dinner lying there in the straw. So I ate it up. Think of it as a cheeseburger just lying there.”

The story presents opportunities to use other fairy tales for students to practice retelling stories from another point of view once they buy into Scieszka’s formula.

Fables by Arnold Lobel. Here are modern little fables that are one page long with morals such as “It is the high and mighty that have the farthest to fall.” One year, I used these fables with my drama class as short sketches. My favorite sketch to watch was the story of the Lobster and the Crab where the insanely spirited Lobster took timid Crab out for a ride in a boat during a tremendous storm. When the boat capsized, the student playing Crab cried out in despair, “Horrors!” while the student playing Lobster jumped and shouted with glee.”Down we go!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.
FablesLobel writes:

The Crab was shaken and upset.
The Lobster took him for a relaxing walk along the ocean floor.
“How brave we are,” said the Lobster. “What a wonderful adventure we have had!”

The moral? “Even the taking of small risks will add to the excitement of life.”

The same can be said for using children’s literature in high school.
The use of a well-chosen picture book will add to the excitement of a lesson! Continue Reading…

In Books, Education, Picture Books, Reader, Reading, Stories, Teacher , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Kicking back with Max, Horton, and the Very Grouchy Ladybug

August 3, 2013 — 1 Comment

Read picture books.

Yes, I am talking to you.

(No, not you kids….)

I am talking to you….you, Advanced Placement English Literature teacher, pretentiously waving me off with your worn cover of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbevilles. Yes, you too..the one taking notes on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the book you assigned for summer reading?

Time to do some other kind of reading.

Time to read for pleasure.

It’s time to wallow in Sendack (Maurice), Carle (Eric), and Seuss (Dr.).

Max Horton Ladybug

It’s time to discover Mo Williams’s Pigeon, Jon Scieszka’s Big Bad Wolf, and Jon Klassen’s hatless bear.

BearPigspigon

Why?

Primarily because teachers, all teachers, who are familiar with children’s literature can be positive role models for their students. They can engage students by making references to these books or they can make suggestions to young readers. They may even use them in lessons. But a new compelling reason has come out of a study by Jo Bowers and Dr Susan Davis, senior lecturers in primary education at Cardiff Metropolitan University. A review of responses by teacher trainees for primary grades indicates that reading children’s literature is good for your well-being.

An article in the British paper The Guardian Why Teachers Should Read More Children’s Books explains the study and promotes a paper Reflecting on Teacher Wellbeing that Bowers and Davis will give at Issues and Changing Perceptions conference in December 2013.

They had set up a year-long blog where teacher trainees could post reviews for three books they used with children over the course of the year. They then asked a focus group of these blog contributors a series of questions about their own reading experiences, such as, “What made you become a reader?”

The joys of reading became apparent, namely, how they had enjoyed “getting totally lost in a book” or “absorbed” by the narrative. It also became evident that they had close personal associations with certain texts from their own childhoods, and the fact that they could turn the page of a book and by knowing what was on that page gave them comfort and confidence to share that book with their class.

Trainee teachers reported they were using children’s books of all genres as a form of escapism from the stresses and strains of teaching in the primary classrooms. Researchers concluded that trainee teachers were using the book as a form of bibliotherapy, a therapy “increasingly moving away from its original medical model– whereby practitioners ‘prescribed’ self-help books to patients suffering from depression or eating disorders.” While the teacher trainees had to read the children’s literature selections as part of their professional development, they also found the experience pleasurable:

We have also found that trainee teachers often don’t read purely for pleasure, citing time constraints as the reason. Our blog project forced them to read as part of their professional development, and because they wanted to improve their subject knowledge. Wellbeing was secondary, but nonetheless became part of the project, almost by default. One of our students summed it up nicely: “Books are like best friends during stressful times.”

So, go ahead and pick up that copy of King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub and chant loudy the refrain “…and he won’t get out!”
Listen to the poetic wisdom of a small mouse who notes that everyone has a gift to bring in Leo Lionni’s Fredrick.
Or, share a red, ripe strawberry in The Little Mouse, The Big Hungry Bear and The Red Ripe Stawberry.

king Fredrick mouse

You will be reading for pleasure. You will be reading quickly, and you will probably feel better, things Thomas Hardy and Nathaniel Hawthorne may not do for you.

References according to The Guardian:

Jo Bowers and Dr Susan Davis are senior lecturers in primary education at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Follow them on Twitter: @Jo_Bowersand @drsuzyw. Reflecting on Teacher Wellbeing – Issues and Changing Perceptions conference will be held at Cardiff Metropolitan University on Wednesday 4 December 2013. For further information please contact:cseenterprise@cardiffmet.ac.uk.

 

In Books, Education, Picture Books, Professional Development, Reader, Reading, Research, Teacher , , , , , , , ,
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A Question of Art vs. Science Settled by Harold and the Purple Crayon

March 27, 2013 — 1 Comment

There is always a “first mover”, the one who starts the action. A creator.

But is this creator an artist? Or is this creator a scientist?

A recent broadcast on National Public Radio puts the evidence solidly in artist’s corner. This evidence is in the form of the 3-D Doodler, a new device featured on Marketplace as an invention funded through Kickstarter. The 3-D Doodler is a thick pen not unlike a glue gun that exudes a ribbon of thin plastic that hardens into the shape being drawn. There was a team of scientists and engineers who created the 3-D Doodler.

The video demonstrates how the 3-D Doodler operates like a pen that continues to write even after it is lifted from a surface allowing the writer to operate without a canvas. There are no limits to the size of the creation; the only limit is the supply of plastic. Oh, and the power source.

But, a crayon does not need a power source. A crayon only needs a hand and an imagination. Especially if the crayon is the beautiful color purple.

Before the 3-D Doodler, there was Harold and the Purple Crayon. 

Crockett Johnson’s Harold and the Purple Crayon was first published in 1955, and was voted one of the “Top 100 Picture Books” of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal. Loved by children of several generations, Harold’s creativity endures.

Screen Shot 2013-03-27 at 9.40.03 PMHis story begins,

“One night, after thinking it over for some time, Harold decided to go for a walk in the moonlight.”

On the right hand side of the first page, Harold’s distinctive large round head and wide eyes are turned expectantly to a blank space in the top right corner of the page. Clenched in his right hand is a purple crayon; he has just completed a full page drawing of intersecting lines on the opposite page.

“There wasn’t any moon, and Harold needed a moon for a walk in the moonlight.”

On the next page, standing on his tiptoes in his full bodysuit, Harold draws a slice of the moon.

“And he needed something to walk on.”

Bending over, Harold draws a straight line and “sets off on his walk taking his big purple crayon with him.” Harold travels through a forest, past a dragon, on the ocean, to the beach, up a mountain, in a hot air balloon, through a maze of city buildings, until he finally finds his way back into his bedroom through an open window. At the end of the story, Johnson displays the sophisticated word play that makes the story so much fun to read aloud. Harold is in his bedroom, where he:

“…made his bed. He got in and he drew up the covers.”

Get it? He “made” the bed? “Drew” up the covers”? Johnson was a genius. An artistic genius.

The success of Harold and the Purple Crayon was extended by Johnson in a number of sequels. Harold’s imagination allowed him to travel through numerous landscapes:

  • Harold’s Fairy Tale 1956
  • Harold’s Trip to the Sky 1957
  • Harold’s Circus’s 1959
  • Harold’s ABC 1963

The series gave rise to a video puzzle game, Crayon Physics. However, the artist Harold was not limited by the laws of physics. The crayon was not bound to wear and tear. The canvases were large and blank and ready for a creator.

The new 3D Doodler can also be used to write on a large blank canvas. However, this new technology is seriously limited by the need for a power source and a continuous supply of “ink.”

In deciding the case of which came first, the artist or the scientist, the evidence is illustrated quite literally in doodles. These doodles are in purple, not plastic. Harold is a first mover whose imagination continues to inspire. Sorry, 3D Doodler, in this landscape of creation, Harold the artist comes first.

In Books, Picture Books, Reading , , , , ,
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