I know I only recently got through saying we shouldn’t judge others and make judgments about their marriages or parenting but this article really made me sad. It appears in today’s society the picture book is under threat. Booksellers can’t sell them. According to this article they languish on the shelves. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/us/08picture.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
When our children were young Mick and I spent a lot of time reading picture books, as well as chapter books with them. The first introduction to books was picture books. One son was mainly interested in the words. Our daughter poured over each illustration. Guess which one went into art?
Reading picture books provided a time of escaping for a time from all that is happening into magical worlds of color. It’s something that helps develop a child’s vocabulary and possibly their artistic skills as well. Even if they never manage to draw or paint themselves, it opens up another world for them.
One of the gifts Mick and I gave our adult daughter this year for her birthday was a picture book called Mirror. It features the collages of renowned artist Jeannie Baker and I knew she would be delighted with it.
Some of the more sophisticated picture books are also used by schools at highs school level to teach concepts in a more accessible and imaginative way. Some of them are not afraid to tackle hard issues like homelessness, land rights, immigration, prejudice, illness and death.
In our rush to educate our kids and get them onto reading chapter books independently, let’s not forget the value of the picture book. At the very least they open up a child’s vocabulary, give a sense of the poetic and a sense of wonder that encourages imagination. We are depriving children if we rush them past this time and try, as some parents tell them, that they can ‘read better, harder books, and that they have moved past picture books.’
Yes they may be more expensive, and rightly so given the amount of work that goes into them, but they are absolutely worth it.
Picture a world without picture books. It would be a dull world indeed. If you’re interested in finding out more on the picture book debate, pop on over to this site.
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