Why Picture Books Matter, Even for Teenagers & Adults

I've written about this topic a few times in the last 10 years, but it is worth revisiting. Many people think that picture books are for little kids and that as soon as possible, we need to move them on to chapter books.  Some parents and teachers encourage their children to 'move on' to chapter books almost as soon as they become proficient and fluent in reading. This is a bad idea, for a range of reasons. All stem from four myths that underpin this well-motivated error.


Myth 1 - 'Picture books are easier reading than chapter books'. While some are simple, they can have very complex vocabulary, syntax and visual images & devices.  For example, Nicki Greenberg's graphic novel adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' is in effect a print-based staging of Hamlet's struggles with truth, meaning, morality and action. She brings the play to life in a riot of colour and visual acrobatics that makes 'Hamlet' accessible to new teenage and adult readers. And the text of Maurice Sendak's 'Where the Wild Things Are' is a single sentence that is extremely complex, with a mix of embedded clauses, direct speech, unusual verbs and rich metaphor. Good picture books often use complex metaphors to develop themes, and the limitations of the number of words used requires the author to use language with an economy and power that many chapter books simply don't attain. The subtle use of image, word, page layout, colour and text layout variations can create sophisticated texts. Graphic novels and electronic picture books like 'The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore', which I've reviewed previously (here), are taking this to a completely new level.

Myth 2 - 'Illustrations make it easy for children to read and they reduce the need to read the words'. While illustrations do work in harmony with the words, and authors can use 'stripped down' language that allow greater use of images, the interplay of illustration and words is often extremely complex, allowing the reader to discover new meaning each time they re-read the book, often over a period of many years.  So a child can read John Burningham's classic book 'Granpa' as a simple story about a little girl and her grandfather, but can revisit it years later and discover that it tells of the death of the little girl's Grandfather. And many adults may never see the underlying themes in children's books, like that of death in 'John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat'.

Myth 3 - 'Getting children reading longer texts earlier will maximise their reading growth'. Not necessarily! While having the chance to consolidate reading skills by reading lots of similar chapter books is good, pictures still have a place. In fact, pushing a child too quickly into long chapter books isn't necessarily best for young readers. At the point where readers 'take off' and want to read everything, to give them a series of books is satisfying for them and reinforces their knowledge of the world and knowledge of language. But this can offer less stimulation than good picture books and less challenge in terms of developing comprehension ability (see my post on 'Emerging Comprehension'). Picture books present multiple sign systems in one text. The parallel use of language, image and many other devices (e.g. colour and print layout), stimulates creativity and the imagination in ways that chapter books cannot. A book like Graeme Base's 'The Sign of the Seahorse' uses language, brilliant illustrations, a play text structure and other devices (including a map and hidden clues), to offer a complex text to be explored, read, enjoyed, 'worked out' and revisited many times. Or consider John Schumann's moving lyrics for the song 'I Was Only Nineteen' that tells the story of conscripted Australian teenagers being sent off to war in Vietnam. When combined with the illustrations of Craig Smith a powerful picture book is created that can challenge readers from 6 to 60 years of age.

Myth 4 - 'Picture books are just for children'. Not so! Pick up any Shaun Tan book and you might at first read think, "Wow, is this a book for adults?" 'Tales From Outer Suburbia', 'The Arrival', 'The Lost Thing', in fact any of his books, have a depth and richness that can 'stretch' and challenge any child or adult. My first reading of his more recent book, 'Rules of Summer', left me perplexed and with so many questions I had to read it again, and again to grasp the depth of this deceptively simple story about the relationship between two boys (one older and more dominant than the other). This is a story about rules and power with Tan's characteristic images prodding your imagination at every turn of the page. Like all quality picture books, it can be entered by readers of all ages and leave them enriched in different ways.

While the majority of picture books are designed for readers under the age of 7 years, more and more are written for much wider readerships and the rapidly developing genre of the 'Graphic Novel' (see previous post here) because they allow the author to use word, image and other modes (including related audio, video and music) to create more complex tellings of the story the author has in mind.  For example, books like 'My Place' and 'Requiem for a Beast' and 'When the Wind Blows' were never meant just for children. In fact, Matt Ottley's book was actually meant for high school readers. The great thing about picture books is that children and adults can both enjoy them, sometimes separately, and sometimes together. The latter is an important way to grow in shared knowledge and understanding as well as a key vehicle for helping children to learn as we explore books with them.

So, what do Picture books do for older readers?

Picture books communicate complex truths in relevant and economical ways - 'Harry and Hopper' by Margaret Wild and illustrated by Freya Blackwood helps readers of any age to have a light shone on the challenge of accepting and dealing with death so that life for those left behind can move on, even though death changes things in big ways.

Picture books offer special pathways to deal with deep emotional challenges and springboards for discussion - 'Dandelion' by Calvin Scott Davis (illustrated by Anthony Ishinjerro) allows the inner pain of bullying and the fears it brings, to be visited and opened for reflection and growth.

Picture books also enliven and reintroduce wonderful classic short stories - Oscar Wilde's 'The Selfish Giant' is made fresh and relevant again through the illustrated picture book of Ritva Voutila. This tale of forgiveness is enriched by Voutila's contribution. So too Ted Hughes classic 'The Iron Man' is enriched with the illustrations of Laura Carlin and the graphic and paper craft design. 

Picture books bring the power of image and graphic layout to words in ways that add layers of meaning that would take thousands of words to communicate - Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks work 'The Dream of the Thylacine' shows this with great power when Brooks surreal images of the now extinct Tasmanian Tiger have embedded within them grainy black and white photographs of the last miserable creature caged in a Tasmanian zoo in the 1930s.

Picture books can achieve things at times which the novel cannot - Irene Kobald & Freya Blackwood's brilliant picture book 'Two Blankets' manages to offer insights into the inner struggles of a girl who arrives from a war-torn nation to the strangeness of a new land. It is primarily through the metaphorical use of an object - a blanket - that the author and illustrator jointly communicate a significant story about the strangeness of language and place in a unique way.

Summing up

It's good to encourage younger children to progress to chapter books as they become proficient in reading, but we shouldn't simply discard picture books assuming they have little challenge for them anymore.  The stimulation and challenge of the mixed media opportunities that picture books offer, are very important for language stimulation and development as well as creativity and the enrichment of children's imaginations. Children may well be growing in language proficiency quickly, but their emotional maturity might not. Picture books do more than offer words and language, they help children to grow in knowledge of the world as well as emotionally and intellectually. They also serve as mirrors into their lives and windows into their world.

Picture books are important for children aged 0-12 years, so don't neglect them or discard them in a perhaps well-intentioned but misguided desire to improve your children as readers. Remember, books are foundational to language, writing, knowledge, thinking and creativity as well. They also represent one of the best ways to offer children multimodal experiences with text.
 
Other reading

Previous post on 'Requiem for a Best' and graphic novels HERE

Previous post on 'Emergent Comprehension' HERE

All my posts on picture books HERE

Growing Children's Imagination & Creativity

Above: Relaxing in her cardboard cubby (Lydia age 4)

Children begin very early in life to imaginatively recreate story, experiences, life situations and ideas deep within. The human capacity to tell and recreate story is strong and is seen very early in life. This should not surprise us because imagination, creativity and story telling is basic to life, and together, distinguish us from all other creatures.

My youngest granddaughter Lydia has been fascinated by story since her first year of life. As a three year old she would use objects of every kind to create stories. Two lettuce leaves became two butterflies, the central characters in her mealtime story. Not all of her stories are retellings of known stories, in fact many are original innovative stories that she crafts using stimuli in her environment. Story for Lydia can also be stimulated by television (e.g. 'Everything's Rosie', 'Charlie and Lola', 'In the Night Garden'), books and all of life's everyday experiences.

The cardboard cubby above was created to her specifications from a box that our new washing machine came in. "I'll have the door here", "the window there". "Can I have a chimney please", and a "one on the roof". "A skylight I asked?". "Yes, of course!"

Imaginative play and storytelling are essential parts of learning. In previous posts I've called this re-creation (i.e. the reconstruction, presentation or retelling of a story in new ways), but it takes many forms.

Above: The fully furnished cubby

Story in its own right is critical to learning, communication and well-being. This is something that I've written about many times (for example HERE & HERE). For children, the re-creation or reliving of a story is a critical part of their growing knowledge of narrative as well as a way to gain knowledge.

Young children often quite naturally use imaginative storytelling to support and play with known stories or varied life situations and experiences:

Above: Beans become tusks for the walrus!

• Changing rhymes and songs, e.g. 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' to 'Baa Baa White Sheep' as Lydia does often.
  Acting out 'Little Red Riding Hood' with the resources of the dress-up box and some friends.
• Dramatizing a well-known children's song from television or CD or a children's picture book.
• Using art or drawing to imagine a story character, mythical creature or story setting. 
• Using Lego (or other toys, props and objects) to re-imagine story alone or with others.
• Creating something new that grows out of an experience of story. 

 Here are a few examples of how this can be encouraged at varied ages.

Examples of Imaginative Re-creation by Age Group

a) Toddlers (1-3 years)

• Being encouraged to be a wild thing as the story 'Where the Wild Things Are' reaches the critical moment when Max declares 'Let the wild rumpus start'.
• Finger Plays and rhymes ('This Little Piggy', 'Incy Wincy', 'Round and Round the Garden') 
• Retelling Thomas the Tank Engine stories using the various engines that feature in the story.
• Using dolls or soft toys to act out domestic scenarios.
  Using dress-up clothes in association with well-known stories.
• Creating a story using toy soldiers, Polly Pocket toys, magnetic boards with characters, fuzzy felt and so on.
• Joining in the television dramatization of a well-known story on a program like 'Playschool'. 

b) Early years (4-6 years)

• Many of the better story apps for iPad or android devices are an innovative way for multiple re-created experiences of stories (see my recent post on this HERE).
• Drawing maps, key characters (dragons, people) or scenes.
• Acting out stories with a group of children or with adult family members.
• Creating an adapted text to re-create part of a story (e.g. poetry, a character interview, telling the story from a different point of view).
• Using puppets to re-create a story.
• Using modelling clay or craft materials to create characters to re-create and retell a story.

Creating knights for storytelling

c) Later childhood (7-12 years)

• More elaborate dramatization, with involvement in making props and costumes.
• Simple animations using one of the programs readily available (see my previous post on animation HERE). 
• Using materials like Lego to re-imagine a well-known story.
• Creating a board game that recreates the plot or a specific part of a story (as Sam did).
• Creating a complex map or plot summary as a device for others to use.
• Create a script to be acted for a specific part of a story.
• Write a newspaper report based on an event within a story.
• Use a variety of written genres to create a new text ('The Jolly Postman' and 'The Jolly Pocket Postman' are published examples of this).

These are just some of the ways that storytelling and imaginative re-creation can stimulate learning and language.