Visual literacy for Picture books for the older reader
Presented by Megan Lindsay 14 November 2007
Over the last 10 or more years, there has been a growing trend to publish very sophisticated
“children’s” picture books which contain contemporary themes and imagery aimed at the older
reader. These new books are beautifully crafted with eye-catching artwork and textual design
features which are perfect tools for encouraging visual literacy and critical thinking skills, and
also inspiring technology and design characteristics. They are highly motivating and
encourage a new respect for picture books from students in the middle school area. The
following titles are suggestions to try:
Title
Author and
Illustrator
Teaching Notes
Browne, Anthony
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/authors/experts/browne.asp
Any title
Browne, Anthony
Notice how he puts animals features onto humans
Can you see the elephants expression (or his face)– why?
What about the other animals?
What about mum’s expression?
What do the giraffes camouflage into – is that natural and why?
What do you notice about the size of dad compared the rest of the family –
why is this?
Why does Anthony Browne use lots of fences in his illustrations?
Talk abut the baboon page and the page opposite – how are they the
same. Where is the father baboon going?
Why are the end papers black?
The Viewer
For Tristan, the city dump was a treasure trove full of history. He
would take each sad, broken, and dirty thing apart to see how each
could be made to tick, whir, or ring. Then he found the box. It was
filled with lenses, a microscope, a monocle, a magnifying glass, and
a Viewmaster. What Tristan saw through the dark orbs as he clicked
the viewer was like nothing he had ever seen before. He clicked
more slowly, then crept into bed, trembling...
By Crew, Gary &
Tan, Shaun (ill)
Afraid, Tristan tried to pull the viewer from his eyes, but he could
not. He tried to look away, but he could not. Something compelled
him to keep looking, to try-against his own wishes-to actually enter
this thing, this machine.
In the morning when Tristan had not come down, his mom called
him. There was no answer. She went to his bedroom, knocked and
went in. Tristan's bed was empty, but on his desk was a box, its lid
closed, its latch firmly locked. Which was curious... very curious
indeed.
Memorial
By Crew, Gary
Tan, Shaun (ill)
A Moreton Bay Fig tree, planted as a memorial to Australian
soldiers killed in World War I, looks set to be cut down by the local
council. A young boy tells the moving story of the tree, as related by
his great grandfather, grandfather and father, each of whom has
participated in wars over the years. Interweaving themes of war,
memory and conservation while bringing the legend of the Anzacs
to a new generation, with brilliantly original collage illustration.
- brilliant use of hessian, old window frames, photos, leaves – for
framing effects
Full teaching notes available at:
http://lvillage.education.vic.gov.au/lv/beps/hp.nsf/Files/literature+acti
vities/$FILE/memorial.pdf
The Kraken by
Crew, Gary
MacBride, Marc (ill)
Crew, Gary
Woolman, Steven
(ill)
The Watertower
Beneath the
surface(sequel)
Full teaching notes available at :
http://lvillage.education.vic.gov.au/lv/beps/hp.nsf/Files/literature+activities/$
FILE/thekraken.pdf
Woolman said: "I've always been interested in the macabre and
been attracted to tales of horror and the supernatural. My teen
years were filled with images from horror and black and white Bgrade science fiction movies, TV shows and comics, and this has
had a lasting influence on my work and the way I visualize stories.
Looking back, I think the attraction to horror was not so much the
thrill of being scared, but more the visual style with which these
stories were told. Films such as The Shining and Invasion of the
Body Snatchers (even schlock-horror splatter movies like Evil
Dead ) excited me through their use of closeups and strange
angles, weird lighting, and cutaways. I find now when I begin
illustrating manuscripts that my first step is to play out the action in
my mind as though it were a movie, and the cinematic influence
usually remains in the finished product. The Watertower was my
first macabre book, and since it was aimed at an older audience I
felt licensed to try a more sophisticated visual style and design. With
its surreal photorealism, black borders, and wide-screen
presentation, the book is very much a homage to those movies I
watched in my teens. Caleb, the follow-up, also uses some of the
same devices, with its unnatural viewpoints and manipulation of
shadow and light.
"This is not to say all my work is horror-based and dark. I am after
all a children's book illustrator and a large body of my work is
humorous in nature and aimed at a younger age group. Books such
as Peter and the Polar Bear and The Lighthouse are both complete
diversions from my books for older readers, and I enjoyed the
challenge of creating them just as much.”
Marsden, John
Tan, Shaun (ill)
The Rabbits
Scieszka, Jon
Smith, Lane
The stinky
cheeseman
Tan, Shaun
The arrival
The red tree
The lost thing
This extraordinary book has amazed and delighted everyone I have
shown it to. It is textless and depicts many strange things and a
world that we do not understand and yet at the same time it is not
difficult to understand. It shows the experience of an immigrant
when he or she comes to a country where they know no one and
understand very little. Shaun Tan wants us to understand the
feelings of apprehension as a young man leaves his young wife and
daughter and his country to travel a vast distance to a completely
different country where he can’t speak the language or read any
signs. A country where the landscape and the creatures and even
the pets are very different and where he doesn’t understand how
things work or what is the purpose of so many strange
things. However on his arrival in this new land, he meets new
friends who show him how to get to places and how things work and
they also tell him the stories of how they too came to this new
land. And so we get the very moving stories of a number of
immigrant families. The illustrations are meticulously drawn in
detailed panels of illustrations or sometimes full page illustrations in
black and white or various shades of grey and sepia. It is a very
evocative and moving book. It could be used with children from
about 9 years up I think but it would be especially effective when
used with older students in upper elementary and middle school. It
is especially helpful for discussion with any study concerning
immigrants. (9 years to adult)
Wiesner, David
http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/tuesday.html
Tuesday
Wild, Margaret
Spudvilas (ill)
Woolvs in the sitee
Wild, Margaret
Brooks, Ron (ill)
Fox
The fable like story tells of an unusual friendship between a dog and
a magpie. Magpie's wing is injured in a fire and she can no longer
fly. She is looked after by Dog, who wills her to get better. He is
blind in one eye. He puts Magpie on his back and runs with her.
Magpie tells Dog that he can be her wings and she will be his
missing eye. The friendship continues until a Fox arrives. Seeing
the pair cosily together, he conspires to part them. He cajoles
Magpie to come with him. He can run faster than Dog and Magpie
will love the feeling of really flying on Fox's back. When Magpie
finally agrees, Fox abandons her in the desert, telling her that now
she and Dog will learn what it is like to be truly alone. The story
ends with Magpie, regretting her abandonment of Dog, beginning
the slow journey back to her friend.
This is a story which grips the reader. The temptation of the fox and
his leading Magpie into the desert has a biblical quality, and the
seemingly sad ending still rings with the courage of the flightless
Magpie hopping towards home across the desert.
Brooks' illustrations and hand-lettering add to the myth-like feel of
the story. This print, the use of collage and the reds and ochres
prevalent in the book all combine to create an illusion of age, as if
this a story created long ago and perhaps drawn on ancient
parchment or etched on a cave wall. The dark colours of the
illustrations also reflect the serious tone of the tale.
With this tone, Fox may not make for fun bedtime reading, but it is
an outstanding book which kids will be drawn to and which will
encourage discussion about friendship, loyalty and betrayal. It
would also make an excellent classroom text for literature study and
visual literacy lessons.
Wheatley, Nadia,
Ottley, Matt (ill)
Luke’s way of
looking
Support material:
Quin, Rod
Reading the visual in
the middle years
Crump, Christine
Durand, Penny
Hooke, Cathy
Viewing and
representing in
context 1
http://scs.une.edu.au/StudentFiles/HomePages/312_2_05/sarahtwebpage/v
isual_literacy.htm