The Reading Chair: Winter 2024
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Educators think about many things when selecting children鈥檚 books, including what they know about child development. Similarly, effective children鈥檚 book authors and illustrators consider how their work and the techniques they use connect to and support children鈥檚 growth and learning. Take, for example, the use of听negative space, which is the blank space around objects in an illustration. Illustrators use clear, bold images with negative space to elicit attention, interest, and emotional responses. This technique helps draw the eye directly to the subject and heightens the impact and emotion conveyed by an illustration. This can be a helpful feature in children鈥檚 book illustrations since too much visual information may overwhelm children鈥檚 attention and cause them to lose interest.
Educators can look for books with illustrations that use negative space effectively. For example, in听I Am Wriggly, Michael Rosen uses negative space to make the energetic rabbit really bounce off the page. In听A House, Kevin Henkes leaves blank space around the house and then creates a story by varying the details in that space. Of course, there鈥檚 no one way to illustrate a picture book. Don鈥檛 miss听Dim Sum Palace, by X. Feng. It鈥檚 full of detailed illustrations, and the eye nonetheless knows exactly where to look.
As you think about these and other books, consider how the illustrations will draw attention, interest, and emotional responses from the children in your setting.
鈥擨sabel Baker and Miriam Baker Schiffer
听
A House
By Kevin Henkes. 2023 (board book).
New York: HarperCollins. 36 pp. Ages birth to 4.
In his unique way, Henkes turns a simple house into a brilliant concept book.听A House听touches on shapes, time of day, math, directionality, color, nature, and family, all in a way that is engaging for very young readers. Each spread pairs an illustration of a house with questions about it, such as 鈥淲here is the door?鈥� and 鈥淲hat color is it?鈥� Later spreads introduce new elements (a sun and birds in the morning, stars at night) and questions. The format encourages interaction鈥攜ounger readers can point to the elements, while older readers may enjoy answering the questions. In the final pages, the book incorporates social and emotional themes as Henkes introduces the family and pets who live in the house and declares it 鈥渁 home.鈥�
Originally published in hardcover, the title is now available as a board book. We are partial to the board book format: the pages are generously sized and offer plenty of room for the bold, clear illustrations to shine. Teachers can include this book in an inquiry about houses and different types of homes. Toddlers and preschoolers can use paint, markers, crayons, clay, or other materials to represent aspects of their own homes and听family members.
I Am Wriggly
By Michael Rosen. Illus. by Robert Starling. 2023.
New York: Walker Books. 32 pp. Ages 2 to 5.
Michael Rosen, of听We鈥檙e Going on a Bear Hunt听fame, is a master of interactive rhyme. In this recently published book, he uses delightful vocabulary choices (jiggle, wriggle, joggling, bobbling, wobbling, higgledy, piggledy,听and much more) to describe a rabbit that cannot stop bouncing around. The rabbit鈥檚 energy is joyful and infectious, and many young children will identify with the feeling that they just have to move, a feeling that they are often asked to tamp down. Starling鈥檚 colorful illustrations are full of action and expression so that it feels almost as if the rabbit is in the room with the reader. Effective use of negative space makes the听rabbit pop.
Educators can use this book to encourage children to move in different ways, practicing the vocabulary as they go. They may find it especially helpful when children need to get their听wriggles out.
Pepper and Me
By Beatrice Alemagna. 2024.
New York: Astra Publishing. 48 pp. Ages 4 to 7.
Quirky books are often the most memorable, and this one fits the bill. In this imaginative story, a girl falls on the cobblestones and ends up with a big scab on her knee. She doesn鈥檛 like falling, she doesn鈥檛 like the blood, and she doesn鈥檛 like being stuck with the scab. But what can she do? She works through it, naming the scab Pepper and having conversations with her. The story covers self-care, healing, resilience, and the impermanence of so much of the human experience. All of it is told authentically from a child鈥檚 perspective, with plenty of humor to engage children and adults alike. Emotional learning isn鈥檛 the only thing the story offers. There鈥檚 also, subtly, the science of how wounds heal. The illustrations are delightful. Mostly muted colors, what stands out are the bright orange shocks of hair, the poppies, and the scab itself. Children are fascinated by their own cuts and scabs and will love telling the stories behind their own falls听and scrapes.
Dim Sum Palace
By X. Fang. 2023.
New York: Tundra. 48 pp. Ages 4 to 8.
In the early days of the pandemic, writer and illustrator X. Fang found herself dreaming of dim sum, an experience full of bustle and sensory delights. Drawing inspiration from听In the Night Kitchen,听by Maurice Sendak,听she created a story in which a little girl, Liddy, dreams up a magnificent dim sum feast and narrowly avoids being eaten after she is made into a dumpling. Fang鈥檚 artwork stands out: the wafting aromas, the bustling kitchen, and the expressions of the hungry empress and the girl she almost eats are all alluring. After she wakes up, Liddy takes a real-life trip to the Dim Sum Palace to eat with her family. Fang鈥檚 illustrations capture the huge dining room full of families; food is a family affair. Every inch of this book has something to delight in. The book jacket draws the reader in. Beneath it, the front and back covers are designed to look like a dim sum menu. The endpapers feature endless types of dim sum, all labeled, both informative听and听mouthwatering.
The story lends itself well to being extended in the classroom. Children can learn more about different ingredients and recipes, share their family鈥檚 food traditions, make menus of restaurants they鈥檇 like to visit, and imagine food-related adventures in听dramatic play.
Words Between Us
By Angela Pham Krans. Illus. by Dung Ho. 2023.
New York: HarperCollins. 40 pp. Ages 4 to 8.
Felix鈥檚 grandma arrives from Vietnam for their first meeting ever. They are eager to share their knowledge and interests with each other. Felix shows Grandma around the city and teaches her how to play the drums. Grandma shows Felix pictures of her village and teaches him songs from her childhood. When they get separated at a city festival and Grandma doesn鈥檛 know how to ask for help in English, Felix realizes that welcoming Grandma also means teaching her English. Many children are cared for by their grandparents; this story shows the ways that grandchildren care for their elders too. And the separation at the festival adds emotional complexity. The writing is tight and concise, and the story offers children a glimpse of Vietnamese culture听and language.
Children are fascinated by languages as well as families, and many have grandparents or relatives who don鈥檛 speak English. Educators can use this book to start conversations about multilingualism, learning words in other languages, ways we communicate and connect with loved ones, and听immigration experiences.
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