As a teacher-librarian in an elementary school, picture books play a huge part in my daily routine, whether I am reading, sharing, or recommending. They entertain, challenge, teach, stir emotions, and lead to important discussions. In a busy world, a picture book can share a lasting message with a vast number of people in a matter of minutes. I often find myself excited to watch the reactions of children as we read a new picture book.
When I first became our school’s librarian, I quickly started reading some of the books from our state’s Monarch Award list to our students. This list of books is geared to kids in kindergarten through grade 3. The first book from this list that I chose to read was Duck! Rabbit!, and it was a huge hit, as anyone who has read it can imagine. I adored the book, but I didn’t realize how much the students would love it or how much fun I was going to have reading it to them. Children were laughing, debating, and discussing. They wanted to hear it a second time, and often a third time. Some were bound and determined to figure out whether that crazy character was indeed a duck, or if it was really a rabbit instead. Even though I hadn’t planned to read the book to my fourth and fifth graders (oh, what I’ve learned since then!), those classes always saw it and talked me into reading it to them too. I would have boys and girls stop by the library just to see if I would possibly tell them privately whether I knew what the character really was: duck or rabbit. I was absolutely delighted! Not only were we having fun with a fabulous book, but we were becoming linked together as readers and a school. We were connecting over a book. Duck! Rabbit! had grabbed a hold of our students and had become a school-wide read almost accidentally.
That book, as well as the author, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, who visited our school the following year, will always hold a special place in my heart because it really helped me to see how meaningful a special book shared among an entire school could be. When people have read the same book, they have a shared experience, some common ground. When it is a picture book, there is not a huge time commitment involved, and the shared experience is accessible to everyone. I can’t think of a better way to present all students with the same message at the same time. Picture books provide us with the perfect means to do just that.
During the past few years, we have shared so many special books, but there are a few others that ignited a spark that spread across our entire school. I haven’t always known which books would make this type of impact, but when it happens, it’s an amazing thing.
Creepy Carrots quickly became an RCES favorite, and we all became huge fans of Jasper Rabbit and those sneaky carrots. Every student knew that book.
Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson united us in a different way. I remember the thoughtful expressions looking back at me as I read it to classes. I think back to the silence as we finished it as students thought about what they had heard. We had some meaningful and powerful discussions over that book, and I believe that we all learned about the feelings of others.
Our school was in total celebration mode on the Friday after Josh Funk’s first book, Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast, was released. What an awesome experience it was for our kids to become a part of celebrating a book birthday with a brand new author! Students and staff members enjoyed all of the festive events throughout the day, but more importantly we developed a shared love for a new book written by someone our school considered a new friend.
Our official All-School Read for this current school year is Super Manny Stands Up by Kelly DiPucchio. We look to it for an example and a role model. It is really powerful when we all have that story, Manny’s story, in our minds and hearts. Many times Manny comes to mind when we discuss various situations and even other books.
Picture books are for everyone, and they are important for many reasons. One of these is how they can help in creating a community of readers, students, and even friends. Sharing a special book together creates a bond, even a sort of network among us. It can happen among families, friends, and even entire schools. Picture books can bring people together in ways we might have never imagined.
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Michelle Simpson is a teacher-librarian at Richland County Elementary School in Olney, Illinois. You can follow her on Twitter @m_simpson5 and keep up with her school’s library events at rceslibrary.com
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