From: Renee Hoxie <rhoxie>
Date: Tue, 9 Apr 1996 11:30:41 -0500

Like many other participants, I too have enjoyed sharing Vera Williams' books with my own children. Each quarter I also teach a sixth grade class in the Family and Consumer Education curriculum which focuses on the benefits of reading to young children. I always have a large assortment of picture books with me - old favorites and new - hoping that my students will get some ideas for books they can share with siblings or with children as they babysit. I also teach a couple of sixth grade language arts classes about picture books, as they begin to write and illustrate their own picture book creations. In both cases, I always have one or more of Vera Williams' books with me as a fine example of story and/or illustration. My favorite to use with my students is "A Chair for My Mother" because it's such fun to hold up the book with the chair illustration and ask the kids what they see. The chair makes such a beautiful heart to express the family love in the story. Up close I'm not sure it's so visible, but from a distance, it's a new perspective. That single illustration can lead to some good discussion of perspective, the artist's vision and intent, color and pattern, and page framing. Just one more way to appreciate Vera Williams' gifts to us.

Renee Hoxie Jefferson Middle School 101 South Gammon Road Madison, Wisconsin 53717 phone 829A21 e-mail rhoxie at madison.k12.wi.us
Received on Tue 09 Apr 1996 11:30:41 AM CDT