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From: Maia <maia>
Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 17:52:10 -0400
Marian, I suppose that I should clarify that when I said "...why are we giving them "Cheerios" titles?..." I meant it collectively
-- I haven't bought one myself. But I do get annoyed at how much space they take up at the local bookstores.
Board books are a great idea. I never could have understood
_why_ they are so great until the event of my own daughter. She loves her books practically into nonexistence, and while we have
"gentle use" books (non-board books), these are not kept where she can play with them. Her board books, on the other hand, she can read to herself (or her stuffed animals) as she will.
You said "...also, the language of the picture book text is generally more complex than the ability of the toddler to comprehend." I wonder about this, though. I think kids understand a lot more than we give them credit for. I remember the first time my husband asked our daughter to do something specific and relatively complex, in the same language he would use with an adult, and she did it. He was certainly startled! While it's true that plenty of picture books have sophisticated text that would go over the head of a toddler, plenty more are perfectly comprehensible. I also have to admit that, while I think Oxenbury's books are cute, they wouldn't have entertained my daughter much beyond the age of 6 months or so... they are just _so_ simple. Maybe she would like to look at the pictures, but the whole verbal aspect of the reading/sharing experience is, well, small.
You said "They are also very good indeed at figuring out meaning from context -- which is the way they learn to speak in the first place," and I completely agree. Kids live in a world where they don't understand a goodly portion of what goes on around them, and it seems to be a natural born pleasure for them to explore what something is/means. I think we shortchange children when we try to reduce their experiences to what they already know. It is the sign of a wise artist who can balance the familiar with the novel in such a way that the audience is drawn in to ever more learning... and this, I think, applies across all ages and genres.
Maia
-maia at littlefolktales.org www.littlefolktales.org the Spirited Review: www.littlefolktales.org/reviews.html
Received on Sat 27 May 2000 04:52:10 PM CDT
Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 17:52:10 -0400
Marian, I suppose that I should clarify that when I said "...why are we giving them "Cheerios" titles?..." I meant it collectively
-- I haven't bought one myself. But I do get annoyed at how much space they take up at the local bookstores.
Board books are a great idea. I never could have understood
_why_ they are so great until the event of my own daughter. She loves her books practically into nonexistence, and while we have
"gentle use" books (non-board books), these are not kept where she can play with them. Her board books, on the other hand, she can read to herself (or her stuffed animals) as she will.
You said "...also, the language of the picture book text is generally more complex than the ability of the toddler to comprehend." I wonder about this, though. I think kids understand a lot more than we give them credit for. I remember the first time my husband asked our daughter to do something specific and relatively complex, in the same language he would use with an adult, and she did it. He was certainly startled! While it's true that plenty of picture books have sophisticated text that would go over the head of a toddler, plenty more are perfectly comprehensible. I also have to admit that, while I think Oxenbury's books are cute, they wouldn't have entertained my daughter much beyond the age of 6 months or so... they are just _so_ simple. Maybe she would like to look at the pictures, but the whole verbal aspect of the reading/sharing experience is, well, small.
You said "They are also very good indeed at figuring out meaning from context -- which is the way they learn to speak in the first place," and I completely agree. Kids live in a world where they don't understand a goodly portion of what goes on around them, and it seems to be a natural born pleasure for them to explore what something is/means. I think we shortchange children when we try to reduce their experiences to what they already know. It is the sign of a wise artist who can balance the familiar with the novel in such a way that the audience is drawn in to ever more learning... and this, I think, applies across all ages and genres.
Maia
-maia at littlefolktales.org www.littlefolktales.org the Spirited Review: www.littlefolktales.org/reviews.html
Received on Sat 27 May 2000 04:52:10 PM CDT
