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illustration in poetry books
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From: JSidman at aol.com <JSidman>
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2003 13:42:31 EDT
OK, let me stick my neck out, too, in this fascinating discussion.
I both teach and write poetry. When teaching a model poem to a group of elementary school kids (to give them an idea for writing), I, too (like Barbara Tobin's student teacher) use a poster of the poem with no illustration-?cause, to me, a poem is a kind of sculpture in itself. I think kids, especially young kids, can get distracted by illustrations if they are focusing on one poem: its voice, its texture, its images.
However. This ban on all illustration for poetry . . . Would a child pick up a book of poetry with no illustrations? For them, on their own, I think illustration is important--perhaps not at the high school level (and maybe not at the level of Frost)--but at the elementary school level. It captures their interest and helps them move from poem to poem.
Perhaps stories, too, should best be read without illustration, so that the reader can form his/her own images of the text--but that is not how we publish stories for children, either.
More opinions?
Joyce Sidman
The World According to Dog: poems and teen voices Eureka! Poems about Inventors Just Us Two: Poems about Animal Dads
Received on Tue 15 Apr 2003 12:42:31 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2003 13:42:31 EDT
OK, let me stick my neck out, too, in this fascinating discussion.
I both teach and write poetry. When teaching a model poem to a group of elementary school kids (to give them an idea for writing), I, too (like Barbara Tobin's student teacher) use a poster of the poem with no illustration-?cause, to me, a poem is a kind of sculpture in itself. I think kids, especially young kids, can get distracted by illustrations if they are focusing on one poem: its voice, its texture, its images.
However. This ban on all illustration for poetry . . . Would a child pick up a book of poetry with no illustrations? For them, on their own, I think illustration is important--perhaps not at the high school level (and maybe not at the level of Frost)--but at the elementary school level. It captures their interest and helps them move from poem to poem.
Perhaps stories, too, should best be read without illustration, so that the reader can form his/her own images of the text--but that is not how we publish stories for children, either.
More opinions?
Joyce Sidman
The World According to Dog: poems and teen voices Eureka! Poems about Inventors Just Us Two: Poems about Animal Dads
Received on Tue 15 Apr 2003 12:42:31 PM CDT
