Picture Books: Children Literature - Coursework Example

Topic: Picture Books-Children Literature Name of Student: Registration Number: Name of Institution: Tutor’s name: Date of Submission: 1. Introduction Earliest studies of narrative forms of the use of words and pictures have a number of qualities that educate young children. For instance, Perry Nodelman was effective in exploration of aspects of picture books by conveying interplay of verbal and visual aspects of picture books to provide a narrative stimulation compared to the way other medium could accomplish (Nodelman-300). Visual information has been observed to be conveyed in picture books in a manner that a relationship with contemporary texts is created. There are many advantages that picture books have over previous theories in describing the taxonomy of word/image relationships. Picture books provide flexibility and complexity and cannot be limited by a single theory of categorization. The intended audience for picture books is usually child audiences and adult specialists should not be the best people in classifying them (Lewis-118). The use of picture books creates a holistic and flexible interaction. They are also a miniature ecosystems and reemphasizes interdependence of word and image. Unlike an ecosystem, picture books provide complexity and diversity and organization and take the role of reader into consideration that separates them from continuum approaches. The purpose of this essay is to provide us with both examples of complexities of the word and image relationships in a picture book as well as highlighting current studies in picture books. It also provides recent research that has been done in picture books in literary and non literary studies and theoretical discussions of scholars and provides ways in which word-image interactions can be examined in picture books According to this paper, visual literacy has become an integral part of literary and literacy curriculum in English speaking world and regional educators and instructors have to consider the possible integration of visual literary to classroom situations. 2. Interaction of Imagination with Text words and images in Children’s Picture Books Picture books used by children have contributed significantly towards children’s education by applying their observations in the environment to learning conditions (Leland, Christine & Harste and Jerome-208). The choice of line, color and shape from which images are composed create attraction of the attention of children and give them the capabilities to enhance their imagination from texts and images of the story. a. Relationship between words and Images In a number of children’s picture books, the main kinds of interaction are words and images. One is symmetrical interaction where words and pictures are used to tell the same story (Labbo-405). The texts are used to illustrate the meaning of images; consequently, the images are a representation of the texts. In the story ‘The red Tree’ by Shaun Tan, pictures are used with words that provide explanations for the illustrations. For instance, the red tree has been used to symbolize hope. These feelings are difficult to express in words and cannot be understood unless illustrated. A red leaf has also been used to illustrate how the girl feels about her worries. The red tree and leaves have been used to illustrate that despite the fact that bad feelings are inevitable, the can be tampered by hope (Kress, Gunther and Theo van Leeuwen-200). The girl is also illustrated smiling at a beautiful red-leafed tree growing in her bedroom. These illustrations provide the child with the otherworldly visual ideas combined with familiar immediacy of the little child, and combines them into scenes of pleasing experiences. This makes any child appreciate the life experience message and provides readers with fascinating reading experience (Kiefer-100). The book contains sensitivity and wonder and evocative images that creates awareness of the inexplicable emotions and tells the story of power of hope, inspiration and renewal. Another form of interaction is enhancing interaction in which illustrations provide explanations rather than words. The role of texts contributes towards creation of a picture book and interacts more efficiently towards presenting a complete meaning of the story. In the story “Who Sank the Boat” by Pamela Allen, there are illustrations of the donkey, the pig, the sheep and the tiny little mouse aboard the boat. The illustration also shows the animals rowing the boat in water. The illustrations enable children to make predictions on which they believe sank the boat by comparing the sizes of the animals and comparing their weights (Hughey, Jane and Slack, Charlotte-115). The explanation part of the book is achieved by use of words written in poetry form to engage the children and give them an edge in gaining understanding of the book. The illustrations provide children with ideas relating to floating and sinking and create more relevance for its use. b. Additional information beyond the words Due to the dynamic interaction between words and images, most illustrators such as those who have the preference to work in improving interaction in a new way, make use of imagination skills to complement the information to the story (Gardner-200). Thus the use of illustrations serve the purpose of replacing missed words by combining words and pictures to illustrate what the reader does not understand. Pictures are also used to apply imagination into images and create more attraction of the pictures to the audience. In addition, illustrators also add additional details or small elements that fill in the picture (Commeyras, Michelle, & Sumner, Georgiana-262). This creates a realistic environment that is composed of a number of conditions. In the story “Who Sank the Boat” by Pamela Allen the author has provided an illustration of the animals on the boat and additional information that cannot be explained by use of words such as the size of the boat in comparison to the size of the animals. By looking at the pictures, the reader is able to understand how the boat looked like as well as the sizes of the animals. This information cannot be expressed in words and the use of images assists in getting a better understanding of the situation. c. Provide kids with illustrations Mostly, children judge books based on the nature of illustrations contained in them. Most children get their first impression towards a book based on the nature of drawings contained in it. While choosing books, books containing eye-catching illustrations have been useful in attracting learning needs of children (Barrentine-36). Illustrations in children’s books attract the attention of the child to the book and hook them into the lifelong culture of reading them. This gives them the opportunity to respond to the images in the process of reading them and place themselves in the lives of people around them. For instance, in the book ‘We are going on a bear hunt’ by Rosen, Michael, illustrations of activities in which the characters are involved in have been displayed in drawings and readers are able to visualize actions that take place during the events. The act of visualization is also facilitated by properly decorated trees that create a pleasing visual impression for the scenes in which the events are taking place (Barone-49). The cover of the books also contains illustrations of a father and his children embarking on a bear hunt. This creates the awareness of the main characters that are involved in the book before the reader takes the opportunity to read the book. It also gives the reader an overview of the main events that take place in the book. In a similar manner, older children also find usefulness in using picture books by getting motivation in reading them rather than those books having no illustrations because it provides them with fun in reading them and make them easier to read (Arizpe, Evelyn, & Styles, Morag-65). They also create a break from reading longer novels because most readers can read them in a single sitting. For instance, illustrations in the book, ‘We are going on a bear hunt’ contains pictures showing the father leading the children and their mother on a journey in which they are going to hunt bears. The reader is able to get the impression of main characters involved in the book and create an initial idea relating to the book, thus making it more understandable than books having no illustrations (Agosto-267). By looking at the pictures in the book, the reader is able to understand events that take place in the book and understand the difficulties that the children are undergoing in their effort to hunt bears. The use of word that describe sounds such as ‘swishy-swashy’ and ‘squelch’ have been added to provide the reader with the experience of going through open environments where there is grass and how the characters feel towards the experience. The addition of snowstorm and a forest provide users with a convincing illustration that what is actually read in the book is what the writer intended to put down in writing (Many, Joyce & Wiseman-234). It also provides the reader with the ability to understand the difficulties that might arise in the process of reading the book such as inability to understand certain evens that take place in the book. Similarly, in the book ‘The red tree’ by Shaun Tan the writer has used an illustration of a girl in a wine-colored robe getting out of bed and a surreal of flurry of dark leaves in her room. This gives the reader the idea of what the writer is trying to achieve by writing the book. It indicates the misfortunes of the day that the girl undergoes during the day and makes the reader get a clear picture of the intentions of the writer. Some of the illustrations that make the story impressive to read include that of the girl peering out a padlock window of a huge, cold greenish fish head. Black portraits are used to illustrate the girl to act as a symbol of hope for the misfortunes that the girl undergoes (Lewis-119). The understanding of the return of the girl has also been emphasized by the illustration showing delicate red sprout that grow out of her floor and the sudden appearance of light in front of the reader. These illustrations cannot be expressed in words and the reader can only get a proper grasp of them through illustrations. The intricate paintings by Tan also marvelously create emotional states and the red tree acts as a reminder of the emerging creativity in spite of the conditions. 3. Parallel Storytelling This is the process where words are used to describe the events in the story while pictures are used to illustrate them. The significance of this form of storytelling is that the reader is able to understand what cannot be understood in one form (Leland, Christine & Harste,-209). For instance, complicated words can be simplified by use of illustrations while complicated illustrations can be simplified by descriptions. An example of parallel storytelling is the books the book ‘We are going on a bear hunt’ by Rosen, Michael where the main events in the book are explained and a corresponding illustrations provided. The pictures used to illustrate this are those of the father and his family setting out for a bear-hunt mission (Labbo-406). This is followed by an explanation of this section and later an illustration of the family members’ attempts to overcome challenges that the father explains to his children that they have to go through them. Another example of parallel story telling is the book ‘The Red Tree’ by Shaun Tan where the author has used illustrations to show actions that take place in the book as well as the use of words to describe the activities that take place. This is illustrated by the illustration of a girl appearing in a padlocked window with a reflection of the sunny sky and a number of wonderful things passing by such as the papery flying machine trailing confetti. These illustrations are followed by word descriptions so that those who cannot understand the illustrations can read the description and vise versa (Nodelman-302). In addition, there is an illustration of her return trip to her home when she sees a red sprout that grows out of her floor. These illustrations are also followed by word descriptions to facilitate understanding of the book. The other book where parallel storytelling has been used is the book ‘Who sank the boat’ by Pamela Allen. In this book, there are illustrations of the four animals boarding a boat that is afloat in the water. This is followed by a description of the events that led to their act of taking boat ride and a description of the events that follow. 4. Interdependent storytelling Most picture books apply the technique of interdependent storytelling. This is the process where both forms of media are considered concurrently in order to understand the contents of a book. In this process, there is interlamination of complex texts and there is a mutual influence brought by words and images so that the meaning of words is properly understood in the light of illustrations from pictures and also from words (Kress, Gunther and Theo van Leeuwen-203). Most children books involve the use of pictures and words to describe events in the books dependently. Without interdependent storytelling, it would be difficult to understand certain information that the story tries to convey. It is also important in ensuring the child is able to understand the content of the book easily by using a variety of strategies. During examination of visual responses in interdependent storytelling, the main subcategories that have been identified include pictures extending texts, texts extending pictures, pictures extending texts and texts extending pictures (Kiefer-102). An example of a book where interdependent storytelling has been used is the book ‘we are going on a bear hunt’ where the main form of interdependence is where texts are used to extend pictures and pictures are used to extend texts. For instance, the book provides an illustration of the man and his family setting out on a bear hunting mission where he is carrying one of his children on his shoulder (Hughey, Jane & Slack-116). This is followed by the description of what they were carrying during their journey to hunt a bear. The description also informs that they did not carry any weapons but still intended to hunt the bear. The strategy of pictures extending texts and texts extending pictures has been used in the book ‘Who sank the boat’ by Pamela Allen where some descriptions involve the use of texts while other descriptions involve the use of illustrations. For instance, there is a word text that explains that the animals were friends and the decided to go for a boat ride. This is followed by a picture showing the animals on board the boat (Gardner-203). The uses of these illustrations make the story relevant and provide the reader with confidence that what is understood is actually what is written in the book. 5. Exploration of art by reading together By reading picture books, the reader is provided with a perfect opportunity for adult-child interaction-an element that is significant during lifelong reading culture. It provides an opportunity for the adult and the child learner to talk about the likes of the child or hid dislikes about the illustrations in an easy way so that conversations can be drawn around the book and its plot (Commeyras, Michelle & Sumner-263). Teachers using picture books to teach children can find teaching process exciting because the picture books are bold, vivid and have colorful illustrations that attract the attention of learners and make them interested in learning from the books. For instance, the book ‘We are going on a bear hunt’ by Rosen, Michael provides a number of illustrations that can be used to explain challenging ideas to children and attract their attention. The book also contains simple storylines and illustrations that are matching with the activities taking place in the book. The use of pictures in the book also enable children keep track of the events in the book (Barrentine-40). This enables them to retell the story as they read it and they are also encouraged to predict what s likely to happen based on the pictures they see. The illustrations in the book also ensure the story can be understood by simply looking at the illustrations and understanding what is taking place in the book. 6. Conclusion Children picture books contribute significantly towards illustrative literature in the world. Illustrations are words that are combined together to create meaning to the story. When illustrators use imagination and skills, the void left by missing words can be filled thus expanding the text visually. It also ensures the audience is able to recall the story wholly. Despite the possibility of readers to get an imagination of the scenes based on the text alone, illustration makes the story more interesting and captivating when the author uses his imagination skills during the story. Finally interaction of images and words provide the audience with a pleasing experience during reading. This makes picture books more interesting among young children in comparison to other books. Picture books convey a lot of information that would not have been achieved if only words or pictures are used. For instance, it brings books to real life situation by allowing exploration of individual imagination and enabling development of connections to characters and events to create realism of the events. This is achieved by use of stories and pictures, use of illustrations that indicate a range of scenes of high emotions and actions, the use of a number of techniques that indicate the mood and tone in addition to character and plot. The picture books used in this study provide the support for these claims and illustrations reflect objects and people that are familiar to children. Validation of emotions and experiences has been accomplished through the use of images. Picture books also ensure children are provided with reading skills that assist in provision of meaning t and make them become aware of the texts. They contribute towards vocabulary development as a significant building block for reading. They are also significant in ensuring children are equipped with the capabilities to recognize numbers, shapes and letters in addition to animals and objects. They also provide basic knowledge required during and prediction of what is likely to happen. The use of images enables looking, listening and understanding what are likely to take place and the excitement that could be missed. References Agosto, Denise E. (1999). One and inseparable: Interdependent storytelling in picture storybooks. Children's Literature in Education, 30(4), 267-280. Arizpe, Evelyn, & Styles, Morag. (2003). Children reading pictures: Interpreting visual texts. London: RoutledgeFalmer. 3(1), 65-86. Barone, Diane. (1990). The written responses of young children: Beyond comprehension to story understanding. New Advocate, 3(1), 49-56. Barrentine, Shelby J. (1996). Engaging with reading through interactive read-alouds. Reading Teacher, 50(1), 36-43. Commeyras, Michelle, & Sumner, Georgiana. (1996). Literature discussions based on student-posed questions. Reading Teacher, 50(3), 262-265. Gardner, Howard. (1995). Reflections on multiple intelligences: Myths and messages. Phi Delta Kappan, 77(3), 200-209. Hughey, Jane B., & Slack, Charlotte. (2001). 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