The New York Times, whose motto for years has been “All the news that is fit to print” stated in an October 8th article that “picture books are no longer a staple for children.” In my opinion this one-sided comment was NOT “fit to print.” I can’t imagine very many parents, librarians and educators believing it.
As for the pushy parents who deprive their children of being children, shame on them. I am reminded of a book I read when I was teaching. I still have The Hurried Child by David Elkind and came across something I highlighted back in 1982!
“Parents seem to want their children to grow up faster than what seems reasonable. Children should be challenged intellectually, but the challenge should be constructive, not debilitating. Forcing a child to read early, no less than forcing an adolescent to take algebra when simple arithmetic is still a problem, can be a devastating experience for a young person who is not prepared intellectually for the task.”
Today kids are “growing up” even faster and are certainly technology savvy. But I doubt reading scores have improved that much, especially in comprehension. Reading is a developmental process. Just as most children crawl before they walk, there are building blocks in reading. To push a child to read only chapter books, when he/she has hardly had a chance to enjoy picture books and develop critical thinking skills, is depriving him/her of a crucial stage in the child’s life. How can you be six when you haven’t had a chance to be five?
The business of childhood is “play.” As Dr. Jean Piaget put it 50 or so years ago, “Play is the work of the child.” And as children “work” they are exploring, imagining and learning-- step, by step, by step!
When I visit elementary schools and show my non-fiction picture books on a big screen, the images stimulate so many active responses. Students want to share their discoveries and what they already know, and they build on that. There are some very sophisticated picture books out there, both fiction and non-fiction that challenge kids to "think!"
And,I am always thrilled when, after I’ve read to a group of younger children, they say “read it again.”
That’s the great thing about picture books-—they can be enjoyed many times, even by adults. Often you discover something new and exciting that you didn’t see or hear the first time. While it is wonderful for parents to read a chapter book together with a child, or encourage him/her to read it on his own, why deprive the child of the opportunity to examine every page of a picture book first? What a special bonding experience as you hold the book and turn the pages together! It’s also a child’s first introduction to art, to see something truly beautiful on paper!
In non-fiction, a picture book is an art form that an illustrator, in addition to the author, researches. That research often fuels the illustrator’s imagination. Blending the written text with art really helps explain the facts that are presented, and draws the reader in. I am so grateful to the six different artists who illustrated my children’s books. They brought their fresh and unique talents to my books, each using a different art medium as their pictures complemented the text.
When a parent reads one of my "narrative" non-fiction picture books to a child, I suggest they stop now and then to talk about the information in the book. What do the pictures tell you? What is the animal doing? What new words are you hearing?
As you read aloud, a child makes connections between print and pictures, finding and pointing to the words that name those details. A parent is really a child's first "teacher."
Reading a picture book with my young daughter years ago was always so special as we savored the sounds and enjoyed the rhythm and other poetic tools that made the story “sing.” Young children love repetition, rhyme, alliteration, and of course, the ILLUSTRATIONS. Picture books help a child become a life-long reader and I can’t imagine our world without them.
Author/illustrator, Debra Frasier, sums it up beautifully:
The picture book is first a story
but it also gives us
proximity to each other, as it is most often delivered by
an older person to a younger person.
You must sit close
to turn the pages,
to see the pictures.
Your fingers point
and touch the paper.
Shoulders can rub lightly together.
Repeated often, reading a picture book with a child becomes
a doorway that is recognizable as an opening to beauty –– reliable,
surprising, safe, and adventurous all in the same moment.
Just lifting the cover of the book between you
can become the silent signal that the way is opening,
and beauty beckons.
This is not a small thing at the end of a complicated century.
As for the pushy parents who deprive their children of being children, shame on them. I am reminded of a book I read when I was teaching. I still have The Hurried Child by David Elkind and came across something I highlighted back in 1982!
“Parents seem to want their children to grow up faster than what seems reasonable. Children should be challenged intellectually, but the challenge should be constructive, not debilitating. Forcing a child to read early, no less than forcing an adolescent to take algebra when simple arithmetic is still a problem, can be a devastating experience for a young person who is not prepared intellectually for the task.”
Today kids are “growing up” even faster and are certainly technology savvy. But I doubt reading scores have improved that much, especially in comprehension. Reading is a developmental process. Just as most children crawl before they walk, there are building blocks in reading. To push a child to read only chapter books, when he/she has hardly had a chance to enjoy picture books and develop critical thinking skills, is depriving him/her of a crucial stage in the child’s life. How can you be six when you haven’t had a chance to be five?
The business of childhood is “play.” As Dr. Jean Piaget put it 50 or so years ago, “Play is the work of the child.” And as children “work” they are exploring, imagining and learning-- step, by step, by step!
When I visit elementary schools and show my non-fiction picture books on a big screen, the images stimulate so many active responses. Students want to share their discoveries and what they already know, and they build on that. There are some very sophisticated picture books out there, both fiction and non-fiction that challenge kids to "think!"
And,I am always thrilled when, after I’ve read to a group of younger children, they say “read it again.”
That’s the great thing about picture books-—they can be enjoyed many times, even by adults. Often you discover something new and exciting that you didn’t see or hear the first time. While it is wonderful for parents to read a chapter book together with a child, or encourage him/her to read it on his own, why deprive the child of the opportunity to examine every page of a picture book first? What a special bonding experience as you hold the book and turn the pages together! It’s also a child’s first introduction to art, to see something truly beautiful on paper!
In non-fiction, a picture book is an art form that an illustrator, in addition to the author, researches. That research often fuels the illustrator’s imagination. Blending the written text with art really helps explain the facts that are presented, and draws the reader in. I am so grateful to the six different artists who illustrated my children’s books. They brought their fresh and unique talents to my books, each using a different art medium as their pictures complemented the text.
When a parent reads one of my "narrative" non-fiction picture books to a child, I suggest they stop now and then to talk about the information in the book. What do the pictures tell you? What is the animal doing? What new words are you hearing?
As you read aloud, a child makes connections between print and pictures, finding and pointing to the words that name those details. A parent is really a child's first "teacher."
Reading a picture book with my young daughter years ago was always so special as we savored the sounds and enjoyed the rhythm and other poetic tools that made the story “sing.” Young children love repetition, rhyme, alliteration, and of course, the ILLUSTRATIONS. Picture books help a child become a life-long reader and I can’t imagine our world without them.
Author/illustrator, Debra Frasier, sums it up beautifully:
The picture book is first a story
but it also gives us
proximity to each other, as it is most often delivered by
an older person to a younger person.
You must sit close
to turn the pages,
to see the pictures.
Your fingers point
and touch the paper.
Shoulders can rub lightly together.
Repeated often, reading a picture book with a child becomes
a doorway that is recognizable as an opening to beauty –– reliable,
surprising, safe, and adventurous all in the same moment.
Just lifting the cover of the book between you
can become the silent signal that the way is opening,
and beauty beckons.
This is not a small thing at the end of a complicated century.