picture+books+for+the+classroom

Jan Yolen's Encounter tells a very different story to the usual colonial narrative of civilised West and noble savage. This is the arrival of the Conquistadors through the eyes of the Taino, the first peoples of the Bahamas and Antilles to encounter the explorer Columbus. A great text for content, and one which could be the basis of a cross curricular collaboration with the HSIE department. Visually, the images allow for a great discussion on the techniques involved in creating a visual narrative, expressions of power and dominance. Great for introducing the vocabulary for film, for instance.

//Memorial// is another great text for Content areas - and exploring issues of conservation. Whose history is also a question that this text asks? Shaun Tan's illustrations really pull the written text with them. The manner in which light and texture are used to create emotive language is superb. Written by Gary Crew, this is an addition to a range of picture books which he has written, collaborating with some wonderful illustrators.

 Another by Gary Crew, //First Light// offers an unsettling narrative with an element of tension and menace. Observations at the ETA conference included that this would be a good Stage 4 book looking at conventions of dialogue and story writing. It is certainly a good example of suspenseful writing and the collaboration with the images ensures that the sense of unease is communicated to the reader. Stage 5 observation that it would be a good link to //The old Man and the Sea//

 An oldie but a good. The use of texture and shade to develop the sense of deepening forboding as John Brown realises the significance of the Midnight Cat. Could also be used for concepts of belonging for stage 6 as "related material". Themes of loneliness and aging - can students pick out the main idea?

 Great for Parody with Stage 5. A very subversive retelling of The House that Jack Built.

Persuasive language - how many different ways can you attempt to persuade someone to do something you want in 25 words or less. Persuasive images - how can you use images to persuade Persuasive characters - how can you make a drawn character endearing and persuasive.



Stage 4/5 "life in other lands"

Point of view

Perspectives

Voice

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">"After the Bomb"

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">This is an authentic personal voice as it is the author/illustrator's own story of her time as a child in Hiroshima

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">//Click Clack Moo: Cows that type// has got to be one of the best there is when it comes to set up a disussion of persuasive text.

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