kalpanaiyengar

January 17/Reading Assignment 1. Syllabus

2. Sipe, L. (1998). Learning the Language of Picturebooks. //Journal of Children's Literature, 24//(2), 66-75.

This article discusses the educational value of picturebooks for children because most children enjoy literature through reading picturebooks. The different parts of the picturebook with a glossory of terms used with picturebooks and a detailed reference list is also presented for a begginer researcher of picturebooks. My children loved to be read and they would look at the pictures over and over again. According to Marantz (quoted in Sipe, 1998), "[both illustrations and words] make[s] the picturebook a unique art form" (p. 66). A good example of an interesting picturebook with amazing artwork that children admire is //Where the Wild Things Are.//

Images courtesy: [] Children talk about pictures in picturebooks Teacher student discussion reveal how children understand literacy Mixed media - "[]"
 * Illustration media

1. Night in the Country 2. Red Riding Hood

"Art Deco" 3. Snow White in New York 4. Under the Moon 5. The Sweetest Fig || Under the Moon Red Riding Hood || The Napping House
 * Artistic style
 * Perspective and point of view

Changes created with special effect through illustrations ||
 * Endpages

Prior knowledge can be tapped so children's reflections can be utilised while teaching

Picturebook terminology || 1. bleed - Illustrations extend to the edge of the page (full bleed) 2. borders - The space surrounding an illustration 3. continuous narration - The use of several illustrations on a page to connote motion, 4. cut-out - Illustration with no frame 5. double page spread - Illustration spreads across both pages 6. dust jacket - 7. edition 8. endpages 9. establishing shot - Overall terrain 10. fold and gathers 11. frame 12. front matter 13. glossy/matt paper 14. gutter - inside spine? 15. home-away-home 16. illuminated letters 17. illustration sequence 18. irony 19. jacket flaps 20. medium 21. montage - the use of several illustrations on a page 22. motif - a recurring element in the illustrations 23. narrative trajectory 24. opening - PB have no page numbers; page 25. page break - point where you turn the page 26. peritext - 27. point of view 28. spine 29. stock 30. synergy 31. stamping 32. text box - 33. title page 34. trompel'oeil 35. typography - the typeface or font used for the text ("Pish Posh"/early renaissance or mediviel font) 36. vertical moment 37. vignette || Kalpana M. Iyengar Dr. Martinez 1/24/12 Bosman, J. (2010, October 8). Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children. The New York Times, p. A1.
 * Picturebook terminology
 * 1/24/12

This article on picture books and its loss of popularity with young children due to parental preference to text heavy books is a thought provoking one. The article addresses four factors that deter the use of picture books these days - the lack of sales of picture books, parental pressure for text heavy books, misconceptions about picture books, and the sudden surge of young adult literature. The owner of a book store aptly comments that picture books are disappearing from shelves due to lack of parental enthusiasm and encouragement. The books are either withdrawn or returned to the publishers because there are no of buyers. These two factors have impacted the need for picture books in our children’s’ lives today. Parents are under considerable pressure due to standardized testing at schools. Parents prefer text heavy book to picture books because the former facilitates vocabulary building that is crucial for test taking. On the other hand, picture books do not contain too much text and this may be considered a drawback in language development by parents who have no literacy training, especially with picture books. Comments such as “my child can read better books than just looking at a bunch of pictures in a book” and “picture books do not teach vocabulary and language” are serious misconceptions that parents hold. According to Bosman (2010), “…[picture books help] develop a child’s critical thinking skills” (A 1). Literacy experts have deduced that picture books enhance the child’s imagination and capacity to extrapolate information that is otherwise missing in the book (Bosman, 2010). The continued demand of testing mandated at schools has thwarted the child’s innate need to look at pictures and imagine. In addition, the parental demand that their children read young adult literature that is heavy in text is interfering with the loss of interest in picture books. Beautiful books that provide a nurturing place for children to expand their imagination and hence use critical thinking skills such as //Eloise// and //The Three Little Dassies// are drifting away from the book shelves due to lack of buyers and readers who prefer young adult literature. Books such as //Twilight// and Phantom //Tollboot// are gaining popularity and these are readily endorsed by the parents and some teachers.
 * The disappearance of picture books in the market**
 * Parental pressure for text heavy books**
 * Misconceptions about picture books**
 * Sudden surge of young adult literature**

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 * 1/25/12

Eeds, M., & Peterson, R. (1991). Teacher as Curator: Learning to Talk about Literature. //The Reading Teacher 45//(2), 118-126.

This article compares literature to art work and reading teacher to a curator; both collects artifacts and cherish their treasures. Both have to learn to help participants engage in their collection so the participants can benefit and enjoy their activities. Reading as Transaction Rosenblaat’s transaction theory claims that both reader the text benefit from each other in the process of meaning making. The reader constructs new knowledge, while adding meaning to the text. Unlike the traditional method employed in teaching reading, transaction enables an interactive way to teach reading where both the teacher and the participants communicate with each other. IT is not a one way street where the teacher does all the work, while the students listen silently. Further, the students have a say in the choice of the books. Through guided reading (teacher and students read together taking turns), the teacher is able to help develop “literary insight and aesthetic judgment” (p. 119). Preparing for literature study The authors of this article are curriculum developers, and hence they invite teachers to engage in practices that will enhance readability and appreciation of literary works. Children must learn to annotate while reading so they can remember the text and share freely during the study circle time. It is imperative that the author of the text is important because he/she has created the text. Reading strategies cannot be self learned, but they have to be taught by the teacher and hence it becomes the obligation of the teacher to invite transformation in their students to learn to appreciate literary works. Questions to ask yourself about literary elements The authors of this article have categorized teacher’s methods employed during reading
 * 1) Character
 * 2) Place
 * 3) Time
 * 4) Point of View
 * 5) Mood
 * 6) Symbol and extended metaphor

1. Character
 * Round or flat
 * How do characters affect the story?

2. Place
 * How does the place influence the characters?
 * How does language help the readers understand the place?

3. Time
 * Chronological
 * Psychological

4. Point of View
 * First or third person narrative
 * Objective
 * Dramatic
 * How do characters affect the author’s point of view?

5. Mood
 * Author’s mood
 * Reader’s mood
 * The role of language to evoke mood

6. Symbol and extended metaphor

Kiefer, B, (2008). Reading The Art of the Picture book. In Flood & Lapp (Ed.), //Handbook of Research on Teaching Literacy// //Through the Communicative and Visual Arts// (Vol. 2, pp. 375-379). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum. The article defines a picture book and the different strategies employed in understanding a picture book. The article takes an interdisciplinary approach to analyzing the picture books by drawing from different disciplines such as semiotics, aesthetics, linguistics, anthropology, art history, and psychology. Several theorists such as Rosenblatt's transactional theory and Elliot Eisner's aesthetic representation are described in the article to help teachers understand the rationale in using picture books for instructional and curricular practices. The article also compares and contrasts the two different interpretations of viewing a picture book using semiotics and art. Semioticians look at the placement of the objects and positioning of shapes etc whereas, artists consider eye movement and the emotional appeal a picture creates in the reader's mind. Another important dimension explored in this article is the incidental learning that happens in young children while reading the picture book. a. Dilemmas in Reading and Art Visual comprehension precedes linguistic abilities in a child and children make connections based on what they see before they begin reading words. What is a Picture book? According to Bader, picture book is "text, illustration, total design; an iten of manufacture and commercial product; a social, cultural, historical document; and foremost an experience for a child. As an art form it hinges on the interdependence of pictures and words, on the simultaneous display of two facing pages, and on the drama of the turning page" (quoted in Kiefer, p. 375). Perspectives from Semiotic Theory Semiotics enables readers to decipher is signs as portrayed in picture books. It also helps children understand the meaning signs convey in a particular story or book. The different geometrical shapes employed in the picture book along with the positioning of the images to create a specialized effect falls under semiotics. For example, in the book, //Where the Wild Things Are,// the different capillarity signifies the characters state of mind. The more the capillaries, the intense the character's instability. Another semiologist, Nodelman, provided "a thoroughly developed scheme for how pictures provide information about stoories" (Kiefer, year, p. 376). He further explained how pictures can be surreal, impressionistic, stylistic (both national and individual). His research finding on how the mismatch between the pictures and words and vice versa creates irony in the story is interesting to a picture book researcher. Drawing on M.A.K. Halliday's functional grammar, Kiefer thinks that children who read picture books tend to seek multimodal representation instead of linear modality. A juxtaposition of words and pictures is today’s children’s' choice of picture books. Grammar can also be applied to images and there are three branches - representational/ideational structures, interactive, interpersonal, and compositional/textual. 1. Representational - shows events (concrete, verbal, timeline, and symbolic images) 2. Interaction - visual demands (social, attitude, power, and realism) 3. Composition - layout or composition (layout, framing, and spatial aspects on images) The positioning of the images also reveal the power relationships of the characters in the storybook. One drawback of this semiotic scheme is that the theory discusses the content of the images, but fails to identify the relationship between images and text. Nikaolajeva and Scott provide us with five different ways in which we can see the relationships between the text and images in a picture book. 1. symmetrical - two repetitive stories 2. complementary - completes the relationships between the images and words 3. expanding/enhancing - interdependency of visual image and text 4. counterpointing - two stories relying on each other 5. sylleptic - two or more stories independent of each other (the opposite of counterpointing) Another picturebook expert, Lawrence Sipe expanded this categorization and posited that the relationship between images and words are synergistic, i.e., two or more aspects work together to produce an advanced understanding that cannot be produced using one of the aspects. **Synergy is parallel to the interdisciplinary approach to looking at problems and strengths.** Hence, pictures and text must work together to help the readers transact the meaning of the story. Also, both the images and words are equally important in this transaction; no one modality is the highlight of the book. Aesthetic Readings of Picture books The semiotic underpinnings enable us to categorize the picture books, but fail to help us understand the joy of reading the same. The artistic appreciation in engaged reader is overlooked if we just use semiotics to analyze picture books. Another pivotal factor in examining a picture book is the reader response theory (RRT) that Rosenblatt propounded. According to Langer (quoted in Kiefer, p. 377), art is the primary source of symbolism and expression in a human being. Martantz expatiates on the aesthetics and describes the picture book as a beautiful artifact. Gombrich is of the opinion that visual representation plays a crucial role in evoking the reader's emotions and both visual and textual factors have to work synergistically to achieve good reader response. Doonan's categorization of the picture books (arrangement of geometrical shapes along with colour, medium, and literal and expressive elements used to convey meaning). Good examples of these features are books like "When Sheep Cannot Sleep" Nand "Where the Wild Things are". Kiefer believes that both the writer and the illustrator have to work hand in hand to help the reader transact the meaning of the picture book. Her three additional classifications of the artistic choices of the illustrator such as design choices, choices of historical or cultural convention, and technical choices help us decide which picture book is preferred and which one is not. Pictures help in the co construction of meaning and themes in a picture book. Finally, it calls for reader training to look at the picture books properly and achieve the desired effect. However, the child may be able to appreciate art and painting later in his/her life if trained to look at pictures early on in life. The synergy of pictures and text facilitates a better appreciation of picture books. Potentials in Reading the Art of the Picture books Hence, the different theoretical approaches applied to understand the value of reading picture books is important to keep in mind as teachers of literacy to young children. Semiotics, linguistics, aesthetics, and art are all important in understanding the layout, language, appeal, and emotional need that the child uses while reading the picture books that we chose for them. Reflection Given that there are different kinds of learners with different learning styles, today’s teachers have to look for innovative ways of accommodating these learners. Picture books are an excellent resource for visual, linguistic, auditory, and interpersonal intelligences (Gardner). It is important that children’s emotional needs are met and their imagination is valued. Picture books are an excellent source to hone one’s curiosity and enable them to acquire incidental learning through the reading or listening to the narratives in the books. A wonderful example of acquiring incidental knowledge is by reading the book, “Snow White and the Seven Drawfs”, an all time classic. Through reading the book, a child learns about vices, friendship, love, and human nature. Children can feel secure and try to resolve any harshness in their lives through conversing with the picture book characters.
 * Symbol and meaning
 * Cannotation
 * Life
 * Universal Literature groups in acLiterature groups facilitate literary insights and the authors used several books to elicit these insights in students. ||
 * Eeds, M., & Peterson, R. (1991). Teacher as Curator: Learning to Talk about Literature. //The Reading Teacher 45//(2), 118-126.

This article compares literature to art work and reading teacher to a curator; both collects artifacts and cherish their treasures. Both have to learn to help participants engage in their collection so the participants can benefit and enjoy their activities. Reading as Transaction Rosenblaat’s transaction theory claims that both reader the text benefit from each other in the process of meaning making. The reader constructs new knowledge, while adding meaning to the text. Unlike the traditional method employed in teaching reading, transaction enables an interactive way to teach reading where both the teacher and the participants communicate with each other. IT is not a one way street where the teacher does all the work, while the students listen silently. Further, the students have a say in the choice of the books. Through guided reading (teacher and students read together taking turns), the teacher is able to help develop “literary insight and aesthetic judgment” (p. 119). Preparing for literature study The authors of this article are curriculum developers, and hence they invite teachers to engage in practices that will enhance readability and appreciation of literary works. Children must learn to annotate while reading so they can remember the text and share freely during the study circle time. It is imperative that the author of the text is important because he/she has created the text. Reading strategies cannot be self learned, but they have to be taught by the teacher and hence it becomes the obligation of the teacher to invite transformation in their students to learn to appreciate literary works. Questions to ask yourself about literary elements The authors of this article have categorized teacher’s methods employed during reading Character
 * 1) Character
 * 2) Place
 * 3) Time
 * 4) Point of View
 * 5) Mood
 * 6) Symbol and extended metaphor
 * Round or flat
 * How do characters affect the story?

Place
 * How does the place influence the characters?
 * How does language help the readers understand the place?

Time
 * Chronological
 * Psychological

Point of View
 * First or third person narrative
 * Objective
 * Dramatic
 * How do characters affect the author’s point of view?

Mood
 * Author’s mood
 * Reader’s mood
 * The role of language to evoke mood

Symbol and extended metaphor

Literature groups in action Literature groups facilitate literary insights and the authors used several books to elicit these insights in students.
 * Symbol and meaning
 * Cannotation
 * Life
 * Universal truths ||

John Berg Saussure Barthes Moebius Nodelman M.A.K. Halliday Unsworth Hallberg Nikaolajeva and Scott Sipe Rosenblatt Langer Marantz Gombrich Doonan
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John Berg Saussure Barthes Moebius Nodelman M.A.K. Halliday Unsworth Hallberg Nikaolajeva and Scott Sipe Rosenblatt Langer Marantz Gombrich Doonan

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