scholarly journals Touching Art: The Art Museum as a Picture Book, and the Picture Book as Art

2018 ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Perry Nodelman

Based on a keynote address delivered at the 2017 Child and the Book conference in Valencia on interdisciplinary links between children’s literature and the arts, this essay draws on its author’s experience first as a children’s literature scholar focused on picture books and then as a volunteer guide and docent for school tours in art museums. It explores how visits to art museums might be enriched by thinking about the art in them in the ways in which we think about the art in children’s picture books- as images illuminated by a context of nearby images and the verbal language they appear in connection with. After an exploration of common assumptions about how to look at art in museums and a consideration of the ways in which our knowledge of picture books might influence our interactions with that art, the essay also briefly considers how museum art might influence our understanding and appreciation of picture books.Key words: art, picture books, museums, galleries, context ResumenBasado en la conferencia plenaria pronunciada en 2017 en el congreso en Valencia The Child and the Book sobre vínculos interdisciplinares entre la literatura infantil y las artes, este artículo utiliza la experiencia del autor como guía voluntario y docente para visitas escolares a museos artísticos. Explora cómo las visitas a museos de arte pueden ser enriquecidas pensando acerca del arte que contienen de la manera en la que pensamos sobre el arte en los álbumes para niños y niñas – como imágenes iluminadas por un contexto de imágenes cercanas y por el lenguaje verbal que aparece en conexión con ellas. Tras una exploración de las asunciones habituales sobre cómo mirar el arte en los museos y una consideración sobre las maneras en las que nuestro conocimiento de los álbumes puede influir nuestras interacciones sobre este arte, el ensayo considera también brevemente cómo el arte de los museos puede influir nuestra comprensión y apreciación de los álbumes.Palabras clave: arte, álbumes, museos, galerías, contexto.   ResumBasat en la conferencia plenària pronunciada el 2017 al congrés a València The Child and the Book sobre vincles interdisciplinaris entre la literatura infantil i les arts, aquest article utilitza l’experiència de l’autor com a guia voluntari i com a docent per a visites escolars a museus artístics. Explora com les visites a museus d’art poden ser enriquides tot pensant sobre l’art que hi contenen de la manera en la que pensem sobre l’art en els àlbums per a infants – com a imatges il·luminades per un context d’imatges properes i pel llenguatge verbal que apareix en connexió amb elles. Després d’una exploració de les assumpcions habituals sobre com mirar l’art als museus i una consideració sobre les maneres en les quals el nostre coneixement dels àlbums pot influir les nostres interaccions sobre aquest art, l’assaig considera també breument com l’art dels museus pot influir la nostra comprensió i apreciació dels àlbums.Paraules clau: art, àlbums, museus, galeries, context.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-334
Author(s):  
Ewa Klęczaj-Siara

Aim. School segregation is a common theme of children’s books on minority groups living in the United States. Although it is primarily associated with black-white racial divisions, currently it also concerns white-Latino or rich-poor disparities. The aim of this paper is to analyse children’s picture books featuring Latino and African American characters who participate in the struggle against school segregation. The authors of the books, being members of racial minorities themselves, offer differing perspectives on the problem. Although they criticise school segregation, they also focus on the white perspective and the reasons why integrating schools has always been hard to achieve. Methods. The study analyses the visual and verbal narratives of selected picture books using a variety of methods for examining this literary format. Among others, it applies the theory of picture book analysis by Martin Painter, William Moebius, Maria Nikolajeva and Carole Scott. Results. The article shows that despite the existing scholarship on race-related problems in American schools, children’s literature seems to be the medium which tries to explain the problem to youngsters being directly involved in the system of segregation. Conclusions. The results can be useful to educators who cope with the issue of racial diversity in American schools. They may consider using selected titles of children’s literature as teaching aids assisting students from minority groups in the process of self-development and empowerment.


Author(s):  
Don A. Wicks ◽  
Darin Freeburg ◽  
Douglas Goldsmith

How children are introduced to concepts of faith is a sensitive matter. One approach used by both religious and secular organizations is children’s literature, including children’s picture books. This paper offers an exploratory study of how religion and spirituality are depicted in such literature.La manière d’introduire les enfants au concept de la foi est un sujet délicat. Une approche utilisée par les organisations religieuses et non confessionnelles est la littérature jeunesse, y compris les livres d’images. Cette communication présente une étude exploratoire sur le traitement de la religion et de la spiritualité dans la littérature jeunesse. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ika Lestari Damayanti ◽  
Nicke Yunita Moeharam ◽  
Firly Asyifa

Studies in the field of semiotics and children’s literature have described the relationship between the verbal and visual texts in picture books as both complex and subtle. These relationships are named differently across theories, yet they still note two possibilities, whether they support or are against each other in conveying meanings to the readers. This study seeks to explore the relations between visual-verbal modes depicted in a children’s picture book entitled Just Ask (author/illustrator by Sotomayor Lopez, 2019), viewed from the perspective of multimodality as proposed by Unsworth (2006). The analysis between the visual and verbal modes in the picture book is focused on ideational concurrence and ideational complementarity. The results indicate that meanings in Just Ask are negotiated through verbal and visual texts which may be complementary or have divergent relationships to one another. It is through such strategy that the suggested theme of the picture book, in this case accepting diversity, is consistently conveyed to the targeted readers.  Since picture books are used vastly in EFL/ESL classrooms to enhance students’ reading experiences, this study may help teachers develop students’ ability to make meaning from verbal and visual texts and inspire their visual thinking strategies.


2020 ◽  
pp. 146879842098175
Author(s):  
H Emily Hayden ◽  
Angela MT Prince

Children’s literature is a powerful influence on the social construction of perceptions and narratives, and it is critically important that all children see themselves represented in the books in their classrooms. However, strength-based views of characters with a disability are rare in children’s picture books, meaning that children with a disability may not see themselves reflected in the books on their classroom shelves. Even worse, books may reinforce limiting, ableist stereotypes and myths about people with disabilities and their lives. Representing characters with disabilities in strength-based ways in children’s literature, where “the person’s own abilities and strengths are explicitly considered [and] empowerment of the person has a high priority”, could educate able-bodied students about disability, promote attitudes of acceptance and strengthen perceptions of self-worth among students with disabilities as well as their typically-developing peers. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of 34 exemplar picture books featuring a main character with a disability. Low occurrence disabilities such as visual impairment were more frequently represented than high incidence disabilities such as a specific learning disability, but the main characters in our highest rated books modelled self-awareness, agency and acceptance. These books disrupted ableist myths about disability and provided the reader with tools to push back against both implicit and explicit stereotyping, teasing and bullying. By incorporating children’s picture books with strength-based representations of disability into research and teaching for primary classroom literacy instruction, we can reinforce valuable social emotional skills that foreground respect for the humanity and dignity of all students.


2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Mead-Willis

The end of summer and the beginning of autumn saw some notable developments in the world of children’s books, particularly in Canada. It is a great delight to announce that The Deakin Review’s namesake, Dr. Andrea Deakin, is one of the joint recipients of the 2011 Claude Aubry Award. Conferred every two years by the Canadian chapter of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), the Claude Aubry Award recognizes distinguished service within the field of children’s literature. Dr. Deakin, founder of the Deakin Newsletter (which this Review succeeds), is a prolific reviewer, collector, and critic of children’s literature, whose work has greatly enriched the study and appreciation of the genre. Also receiving the Claude Aubry Award is Chantal Vaillancourt. A resident of Longuiel, Quebec and a longtime promoter of children’s reading, Ms. Vaillancourt was instrumental in creating the Toup'tilitou reading program in daycare centres across Quebec. Her more recent work with the Canadian Children’s Book Centre sees her coordinating the French-language TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and managing the French-language component of TD Children’s Book Week. No mention of the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award -- as well as the other awards administered by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre -- can pass without mention of this year’s winners. This October, five titles received these prestigious honours. Plain Kate by Erin Bow (Scholastic), winner of the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award. I Know Here by Laurel Croza; ill. by Matt James (Groundwood Books), winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award.Case Closed? Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science by Susan Hughes (Kids Can Press), winner of the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction.The Glory Wind by Valerie Sherrard (Fitzhenry & Whiteside), winner of the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People. A Spy in the House (The Agency) by Y.S. Lee (Candlewick Press), winner of the John Spray Mystery Award. The CCBC will also be administering a new award this coming year: the Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy.In other award news, the International Research Society for Children’s Literature (IRSCL) conferred its prestigious 2011 Award on Picturing Canada: a History of Canadian Children’s Illustrated Books and Publishing. Written by Gail Edwards and Judith Saltman, Picturing Canada has already garnered significant accolades, offering as it does a unique survey of Canadian illustrated works and picture books. The 2011 IRSCL Award confirms the work’s status as a significant contribution to the study of children’s literature. Amid these celebrations, however, the world of children’s literature also lost a major talent. Joanne Fitzgerald, Governor General’s Award-winning illustrator, passed away on August 14, at the age of 55. Fitzgerald’s distinctive style, with its gentle colour palette and cheerful, cartoon-like characters, made picture books such as Plain Noodles, Emily’s House, and Doctor Kiss Says Yes perennial favourites among young readers.


2007 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 202-205
Author(s):  
Lauren Mattone

Children are masters at discovering patterns in their environment. “Look, Ms. Mattone— we're sitting boy, girl, boy, girl.” I love to take advantage of these moments, to point out to my kindergarteners how they are using mathematics without even noticing. I also love showing how picture book authors and illustrators have discovered patterns and used them in exciting, creative ways. Picture books have a familiar currency to them, and children readily respond to problems posed by favorite characters and adventures. Each year, I create lessons for my kindergarten class based on popular picture books that explore pattern recognition and development. These lessons introduce the basic concepts of algebraic thinking and provide my students with the foundation they need to complete higher-order mathematics down the road.


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maj Asplund Carlsson ◽  
Johannes Lunneblad

Title: Where “the wild things” are: An author of children’s books on a visit to the suburbsAbstract:Few studies have been carried out on children’s literature from a post-colonial perspective. In this article, we look closer at four picture books recently published in Sweden with the purpose of giving children from urban areas patterns of identification. The aim of our study is to see how the ‘suburb’ is articulated as a multi-accented sign. Three themes are elaborated in our analysis, i.e. loneliness and alienation, drug abuse and misery as well as small business occurrence. We also discuss the consequences for children in early years of an encounter with a distorted or alienated view of suburban culture.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 507-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Gomm ◽  
Melissa Allen Heath ◽  
Pat Mora

In this article, we offer information about the specific challenges US Latino immigrant children face. We then determine which of these challenges are included in 72 award winning children’s picture books, specifically created for and/or about Latino children. Our analysis offers information to assist school-based mental health professionals, children’s librarians, educators, and parents in prescriptively selecting books that align with Latino children’s social emotional needs. Additionally, we analysed each book’s proportion of Spanish/English text and described the book’s targeted age level and Horn Book Guide rating. From our perspective, books containing colorful illustrations that include Latino children, realistic situations, familiar Spanish words and phrases, and true-to-life characters help Latino children engage and identify with these stories. Children’s book author Pat Mora also explains her perceptions of quality children’s literature. Although this article is specific to Latino children’s literature, implications are offered that generalize to other ethnic and cultural groups that are typically underrepresented in children’s literature.


Bibliosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 80-88
Author(s):  
O. B. Bukhina

Comparing changes in publication policies, the influence of translated books, and an important role that women writers play now, author analyzed new tendencies in American and Russian children’s and teens’ literature. The author concludes that American picture books reflect the varieties of contemporary experiences, and the Russian ones thrive with poetry and non-fiction. The comparison of teens’ literature of both countries shows a lot of similarities; both encompass more sensitive topics, such as illness, death, suicide, drugs, psychological trauma, and bulling.


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