After a bit of ruminating, I admit that Burke and Peterson (the authors of the article I previously discussed) did get something quite right. Picture book selection is key in the process of choosing titles that will work in a secondary classroom.
The right books will have sophisticated themes (which is not to say sophisticated language or sophisticated plots, per se). Funny, cute, simple stories can certainly do the trick. For example, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type is a hilarious story that appeals to very young readers, and other than the word "ultimatum" contains no complex vocabulary. But there are complex ideas embedded in the text, ideas such as leadership, social contract, power, labor unions, negotiation, and perhaps even communism. The story makes a fine companion piece to Animal Farm.
In addition, Burke and Peterson say that the illustrations must work in concert with the text, so that one or the other on its own will not suffice.
Both of these truths became self-evident last Saturday when I hit a library book sale. I headed straight for the children's books (I'd like to say because I need them for this project, but I might as well admit it was actually because I love them). I bought Bad, Bad Bunny Trouble (Wilhelm) and How Spider Saved Easter (Kraus).
Great titles, right? Seriously, at fifty cents a pop, how could I pass them up?
And I'm glad I didn't. Because, although Bad, Bad Bunny Trouble takes a slightly funny crack at trying to be an animal fable, it falls very flat in the theme department. And the illustrations in How Spider Saved Easter just don't work. The spider doesn't look like a spider, the fly has no wings, the ladybug no spots ... you get my point.
These books would not work well in a high school classroom. So I'm glad I bought them, as they serve as superb non-examples of quality picture book choices. Thank you Peterson and Burke.
Next up? I'm going to try to tackle why The Red Book is superbly amazing ... even though it doesn't have a single word.
No comments:
Post a Comment