Picture Books and the Humanities
Children love stories. They are intrigued and compelled by them. My classroom library is home to quite a few of the picture books I read and loved as a child, and even now, as a teacher, I share these books with kids. The books are yellowed with age and crinkled from use; twenty-five years since I first held them, students are still captivated by the stories, the images, and the experience. I love beginning the year with a picture book, something like Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss or Happy Dreamer by Peter Reynolds. The magic of the story envelopes readers and I see the delight in their faces as they are entranced by the narrative, the characters, and the events. Wolfenbarger and Sipe (2007) mention the unique visual and literary art form that picture books provide, engaging students in many levels of learning and pleasure (273). Even as kids mature, they still enjoy children’s literature. When I read one of these books aloud to them, they sit mesmerized by the story line, by the characters, and readily tell me when they didn’t get a chance to see the picture. The magical quality never ceases to amaze me.
Considering their love of picture books, it is not surprising that an abundance of my current students adore graphic novels, enjoying the fusion of text and image. The graphic novel section of my classroom library has grown exponentially since last year. Students read them, pass them to their peers, and book talk them extemporaneously. Curious about their reading decisions, I asked about their desire for graphic novels, and almost every one of them explained that the addition of images gave them a deeper insight into the book. They loved the images paired with text. When I considered their love of picture books and their adoration of graphic novels, I knew I had to give them a chance to attempt writing in this genre. It would be an exercise and they would need guidance, but in the end, I knew they would enjoy it.
In addition to teaching English/Language Arts, I am also a social studies teacher. Recently, we finished studying the Renaissance and Reformation, and throughout the unit, students were avidly interested in the Black Death, Shakespeare, Martin Luther, Queen Elizabeth I, and the fire of London in 1666. This period of history, like many others, is rich with imagery. Queen Elizabeth’s colorful presence and life, Shakespeare’s creativity and imagination, Leonardo da Vinci’s exquisite art, and Michelangelo’s sleight of hand captivated my students. They adored the research, the projects, the group discussion, and our class-wide collaboration. One afternoon, while seated in front of my computer, I began thinking about students’ love of graphic novels, their interest in children’s literature, and their interest in our Renaissance and Reformation unit. Could these students take a topic and turn it into a graphic novel or picture book? I wasn’t sure, but it was definitely worth a try.
Before this year, I had never given thought to bringing picture books into the classroom as an instructional tool. Sure, I would read them aloud, use them to teach theme or characterization, or start the year with a tantalizing book, such as Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss or Happy Dreamer by Peter Reynolds. But this was an application that I hadn’t quite considered: asking students to create their own.
First, I read several picture books to them, asking that they jot down things they noticed about the structure, not the content. These things included word-to-picture ratios, sentence length, image and text placement, and so on. Then, I asked them to look at the content, but from a writer’s point of view. Here, we discussed word choice, targeted audience, and writing voice. I have often been guilty of underestimating the abilities of my students, thinking that they were incapable of identifying qualities such as these. However, I was enthralled (and even surprised!) to see them grappling with these decisions, thinking seriously before filling out the Google Form.
Next, I asked them to choose a topic from the Renaissance or Reformation that they could create a picture book about. “Your job,” I said, “is to write a picture book that would explain this topic to an elementary-age child. Decide if you want to write a book for kindergartners, first graders, second graders, and so on. Then, I want you to decide what structure you want to follow. Choose a picture book--either one in my classroom, one in the media center, or one you love--to guide your thinking about this assignment.” Their excitement was almost palpable.
Tom Newkirk, in Minds Made for Stories (2014), noted that we are compelled by a storyline, by people, characters, “actors”, who are moving through the narrative, whether they are real or imagined. As readers, we seek conflict or problems within the story, and in the end, we want a resolution. I used Newkirk’s idea to guide their thinking and writing during this assignment.
Before constructing their picture books, I asked them to outline the narrative on a storyboard. They were to consider the images and text that would be necessary for their targeted audience.
Storyboards are great for collecting ideas and determining a “route” for the story. Even though these were nonfiction, I wanted them to use Newkirk’s definition of a story, where characters or people, whether real or imagined, are introduced, experience a conflict, and seek a solution to that conflict. This was a bit of a challenge, but through writing conferences (even in social studies!) and with peer feedback, they developed wonderful stories.
After storyboarding, I gave them options for their picture book. They were welcome to use Google Slides, treating each slide as a different page in the book, Pixton, a comic strip maker, Canva, a designer’s dream, or another platform that they felt would work.
The creation of the picture book was where the preponderance of the work was focused. I loved watching them build their own stories, paying careful attention to the details of craft for the younger readers they targeted. They squinted at their computer screens as they worked feverishly to find symmetry and balance with pictures and text. I noticed them consulting with peers to find the right word, asking if their phrasing and explanations were appropriate for their targeted audience. After a week of watching and guiding my kids as they modified elevated topics for the reading pleasure of elementary-age students, I was thrilled to see their final products. Ariya’s comic book told the story of Queen Elizabeth I, Kaylee’s Google Slides picture book followed a child through the Sistine Chapel, and Trace’s narrator took a trip with William Shakespeare through London. Several students used their chosen mentor texts closely, using the sentence structure as a guide throughout their picture book. For example, Isaiah loved If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and used the “if, then” format to structure his picture book. If first page read: “If you give Leonardo da Vinci some paint and brushes, he might paint a masterpiece.” He balanced his text with an image of the Mona Lisa. I was delighted by the creativity they exhibited.
You’re possibly wondering why asking students to create their own picture books was even an assignment in my classroom. It may seem childish or a waste of time, but I strongly disagree. Picture books create a beautiful harmony in classes. Because of their structure, these books can unify students around an idea, a theme, and a narrative. Even in social studies, every student was compelled by story. And the time they spent choosing the “just right” image and crafting the “just right” sentence proved their investment. Picture books are powerful things. Also, I want you to know how difficult this assignment was for my kids. Today, I posed a question to them: “How many of you thought this would be easier than it really was?” Every hand shot in the air. Writing style, appropriate vocabulary and phrasing, and image selection were all taken into account. They had to think like writers, a task that is never quite that simple.
I hope that you will invite your students to read picture books beyond the English/Language Arts classroom. This is definitely an activity that I will use again though the logistics may change based on the needs of future students. I hope that you will allow students time to create their own, using picture books they have loved as mentor texts. All students, even older ones, are captivated by story. Give them a chance to read, write, and create. You’ll be mesmerized by the things they produce.
*****
Travis Crowder, M.Ed., is a middle school English/Language Arts teacher at East Alexander Middle School in Hiddenite, NC. He has taught for ten years and has experience in both middle and high school levels. He currently teaches 7th grade ELA and social studies, and works with the gifted and talented students in his school. Reading and writing are the soul of a teaching life, and he strives to help his students and co-workers build robust reading and writing lives. He has worked with teachers to develop reading and writing workshop approaches in their classrooms. Follow his reading and writing life: www.teachermantrav.com .
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