The Power of the Picture Book: Dr. Mary Howard

Seeing With New Eyes 

When Kurt Stroh invited me to write about the power of picture books and a book that has had a tremendous impact on my life, a virtual celebratory explosion of gorgeous images instantly flashed overhead with one looming large at the center of my enormous stack. Without hesitation, I knew the book I wanted to spotlight and I was grateful to be able to share what it means to me. But before I tell you the book that literally changed my life forever, I’d like to give you a glimpse of the surprising twists and turns of my reading journey; a lengthy journey that ever so slowly ignited a love affair with books that lingers still today.

I’ve always enjoyed hearing educators happily share their inspirational stories of reading love that began in childhood and escalated into a lifelong passion. Their stories of book joy warmed my heart and yet they also raised a certain level of guilt-ridden angst because they awakened memories of the book desert where I resided throughout my school years. As an educator, those memories became a dirty little secret I was afraid to divulge – and so I didn’t.

You see I now share their unwavering love of books, but my book union began much later in life. Maybe it was because I started school in the mid 1950s when bathing kids in books wasn’t deemed a priority or maybe I just got the unfortunate luck of the teacher draw. And although I was blessed with remarkable parents, visions of family book rituals and memories happily curled under the covers gripping my reader flashlight simply wasn’t my childhood experience. My Dad devoured books about the military and wild west and my mother started each day reading a newspaper, magazine, or cookbook –– but books weren’t part of my day-to-day reality. Quite honestly, I couldn’t fathom why anyone would pick up a book on purpose unless required to do so. Read for pleasure! Who does that?

But then a book door cracked open in 1972 when I became a teacher and the book dating stage of my reading life began. I didn’t want my shameful reading history to taint the lives of my amazing special education students so I immersed them in picture books with great fervor. Dramatic oral renditions of books within enthusiastic read-alouds were my daily battle cry. From the first day to the last, books burst across the four corners of my room and became the beating heart of our learning day. Yet I still felt like a phony since I knew that I was probably more motivated by ensuring my students had a different childhood experience than my own than by my desire to truly fall in love with books with uninhibited abandon.

Then in 1977, my book life was forever altered when Jane Yolen published a Chinese fairy tale called “The Seeing Stick.” I still vividly recall the first time I read her exquisite book in a quiet corner of a tiny bookstore. I was conflicted by the stoic Emperor who loved his daughter but couldn’t cry for her. I was mesmerized by the old man who taught the blind princess to see in a new way. Chills ran through my body when I read that the princess grew eyes on the tips of her fingers as she touched carved images on the seeing stick while listening to the old man’s stories. I gasped out loud when I discovered that the old man was blind as tears streamed down my face and a flood of emotions washed over me. It was the first time any book had gripped me by the heart strings and refused to let go and I was held captive under the spell of book joy I had never known before.

In that defining moment five years into my teaching career, my love affair with picture books began (or perhaps was just awakened from hibernation). Just as the old man used his stick to teach the blind princess to see with new eyes, Jane Yolen’s exquisite words coupled with the visual prowess of Remy Charlip and Demetra Maraslis taught me to see reading through new eyes. In one memorable experience, an unabashed love affair with picture books began and continues to flame the spark of book joy that began in 1977.

The original book is no longer in print but a new version was published in 2009 and illustrator Daniella Janglenko Terrazzini brings Jane Yolen’s words to life once again. I love the new version, but the 1977 edition is still closest to my heart because this is the book that first awakened a love I never knew existed. I pull out my 1977 miracle often to relive that moment in a quiet book store so many years ago and I continue to share it with teachers and children whenever I can.

Another winding path of my reading joy journey took place as my love for picture books and my mother unexpectedly collided when Alzheimer’s cruelly entered our lives. As my mother’s memories faded from view, picture books pulled them back and encircled our love for each other. Reading picture books to my mother became a ritual I treasured and the book that captivated me twenty years earlier always made its way to top of our stack. Picture books allowed us to hold on tight to memories dissipating from our reach and offered glimmers of hope; however fleeting. Picture books became a reflection of love that glistened in my mother’s eyes and reached out to embrace us both in reading joy again and again.

So, do I believe in the power of pictures books? Well they saved this child from a lifelong sentence confined to a book desert with no hope of an escape. They allowed me to hold on to my mother’s memories in the dark years just a bit longer. They are my companions when I’m lonely and awaken emotions like nothing else can. And they continue to make my heart pound each time I share a beautiful picture book with children.

In the story, the blind old man says, “I am going to show you my stick. For it is no ordinary piece of wood but a stick that sees.” Because of a single piece of golden wood, a blind old man, a blind princess and a brilliant author and illustrators, I too see what so many others saw long before me – the power of picture books at any age. Jane Yolen literally altered the trajectory of my reading journey…

And I am forever changed!

Books Referenced

The Seeing Stick by Jane Yolen, illustrators Remy Charlip and Demetra Maraslis Crowell; First Edition (1977)

The Seeing Stick by Jane Yolen, Illustrator Daniella Janglenko Terrazzini Running Press Kids; Reprint edition (2009) 

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Mary Howard is a powerhouse literacy consultant and author. She has been described as a “teachers’ teacher” with insight into the realities of schools and a unique ability to translate research into practice. An educator for over four decades, Mary combines extensive experience as a special education, Title 1 and Reading RecoveryTM teacher and continues to provide in-school support as a literacy consultant and coach. She is the author of three books from Heinemann including RTI from All Sides: What Every Teacher Needs to Know (2009) and Good to Great Teaching: Focusing on the Literacy Work that Matters (2012). 

Mary also co-moderates #G2Great Twitter chat every Thursday night @DrMaryHoward with Jenn Hayhurst and Amy Brennan and can be found on Facebook at Mary C Howard.