Picture+Books

= ﻿Picture Books =


 * So, what are picture books? **

Picture books usually conform to a standard length - 32 pages. This has more to do with the manner in which [|current printing practices] have emerged than any artistic constraint. The folds of paper are usually multiples of 4. The advances in printing technology which have enabled a greater use of colour, and sophistication in the reproductive process have also dictated format. If you are interested, think about comparing the picture book of 40 years ago with one published in the last year, for instance, Dr Seuss's //Green Eggs and Ham// with Nick Bland's //The Wrong Book//.

Increasingly, there are those who test the boundaries. Shaun Tan is the most obvious example, but there are others around. They test the boundaries of definitions as well. Murphy argues that a picture book "includes the requirement that, in a marriage of words and pictures, the two partners share the responsibility of making the book work" (Murphy, 2009, p.21). In Tan's work, and those of Otto Nückel, or David Wiesner, there are likely to be no words. Murphy argues for the **interdependency** of words and illustrations, making a "new entity ... that is more that the sum of its parts".

Where then do the wordless picture books fit in?

Where is the **symbiosis** between words and images when there are no words?

How does the symbiosis creating a meaning beyond the visual and textual conjunction?


 * So why use them? **
 * **Time** - a picture book can be workshopped with time for meaningful discussions and learning activities
 * **Aesthetics** - picture books offer engagement through the pleasures of the illustrations, even when dark and challenging, which add a new context, and an opportunity to broaden student horizons about the language of the visual, about artistic techniques and creativity
 * **Writing** - picture books often model careful and tightly controlled use of language and vocabulary, so are an opportunity to explore the frames of writing and the manner in which language can be employed to create story structure or subvert it. Try writing and illustrating your own picture books and there will be a greater respect for the challenge that involves
 * **Content** - a great way to introduce a challenging topic, for instance, the environment, conservation, historical periods, ethics
 * **Building context ** - choosing themed approaches to have students understand concepts before the introduction of other complementary texts, such as prejudice, so a text such as //The Outsiders// may be preceeded by //Under our skin// or //Tusk Tusk.// Conflict in //All Quiet on the Western Front// may be forgrounded by //In Flanders Field, Sophie's Choice// by //Let the Celebrations begin.//
 * **Concepts** - introducing frameworks such as postmodernism and other literary theories in an containable fashion
 * **Reluctant readers** - enticing in the reluctant reader in a manner which allows them to take part, grasp meaning, and be involved, without their challenging relationship with text inhibiting their learning.
 * **Narrative structure** - introducing the concepts of narrative - can bring in theorists such as Frye's conceptual framework for literature, Propp's formalist narrative structure, against the work of Derrida and Foucault, and how they offer a destabilisation and deconstruction of the text. There are examples of picture books that can be included in this discussion, such as //The Stinky Cheeseman//, and others.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Literary devices** - picture books offer a way to learn about the craft of writing, and can be used to help students understand and identify such things as voice, metaphor, point of view, setting, character development, plot, theme and mood. Great for exploring parts of speech, and much more interesting than a textbook
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Visual literacy **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> - picture books allow students to work on acquiring the language of the visual, becoming familiar with concepts such as modalities, vectors, frames, //mise-en-scène,// offer and demand, mood, modes, and other pictorial codes.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">ESL **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> - picture books allow language to be explored in a manner which enhances not demoralises, offering decoding opportunities as acquisition of reading and writing skills are perfected.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Reading and discussing** - improving text understanding and oral communication through literacy circles or small group reading, which can encourage more reticent students to share analysis and responses

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