Hello Dear Reader,
Just had some thoughts as to why some children's books are so damn clever. Some writers just seem to understand exactly how kids think and process life. When we join in the book talk we have a window into their brilliant young minds.
Ari, at 2 years of age, tells Mem Fox that she got it wrong when she called a new horse a foal... "That not a foal, that a baby horse"
I might have mentioned to you, Dear Reader, that I do a lot of
thinking about how the very young make sense of black squiggly lines. The “Reading Experts” have made a list these early
accomplishments in literacy,aka, Concepts
of or About Print.
I often match what I see and hear from my grandkids with this
(pedestrian) list and as a result of my keen observations, I am here to
announce the list is thin and watery. There is no meat to it-no bones-no depth
and very little insight into what is really going on when kids, the author and
the reader engage in story.
Well,
that is in my opinion and I am sticking with it, Here is why.
It is because the really big ticket items are nowhere to be seen on that list! The concepts of print folks need to review
their checklist!
Ari,at two, and Grandma read
"So the mouse ran through the book.
the mouse ran through the book.
He ran onto the next page
to take a little look"
She pokes her fingers through the hole pictured on the page and turns the page. The very last page reads:
And when he got to ten.
And when he got to ten.
He turned around the other way
and ran right back again.
This worked very nicely for Ari, because it meant we kept reading the story a hundred times!
Here are just a few of the major “Ari Literacy Milestones” that I frequently observed when she was just two and one half years of age:
· Knows
book reading time feels cozy and safe
· Knows
book time means talking time, and
we take turns talking about the things
that the book makes us both remember and think about
· knows she can talk back to the book
person (the writer) and let her know she has made mistakes (I think Mem Fox can
take Ari’s negative comments and still hold her head high)
· knows
the pictures are there for her reading pleasure. She can jump into the pictures and be part of
the landscape and part of the story
· knows when we read again…most of the text stays the same, but new things pop up
for discussion each time we read together and this is a fun thing
she can “lead”
the book talk and make demands on the author, and talking back to the authour is perfectly reasonable
knows she can connect each and every page with her own experiences
· knows she can connects
the present read with other picture books she loves
· knows she has
the right to challenge the text
· she gets
that “story” has an important purpose; it has playful language, it is like
music because there is a beat, and for some reason, she can predict many of the
words or sentences.
Ari, is already part of the reading community at two years of age! I tell her she
is “cooking with gas!”
The flame is created by the emotional sparking that
happens between the covers of the book. She reveals her understanding that the
story is a dynamic, fluid event involving, the writer person, the person she
loves who is reading with her, and herself.
She announces her own belief in herself as a real smarty pants who knows
a lot about what is going on in this world.
Alexander Day's "Good Dog Carl" doesn't even need words. (If I comment that the writer forgot to put the words in, she simply fills in for the job and "writes/tells" the story. I am always amazed that this picture brings about such strong emotions. Oddly, it seems to bring up great concern... Oh, Oh, Carl is in BIG trouble now!
Children’s authours who talk to their readers reveal that even very young readers “get” that the author is a vital part of the book conversation.
Now this book by Mo Willems is BRILLIANT! Even kids three and four get that the writer guy is an important and powerful player in the play/story interaction. When the writer guy (Willems) gets the readers (Jayden, Ethan and Ari) to say the word banana...well it just cracks us all up. The power behind the writer guy is fully understood. Also revealed: that a story has a beginning and an end and this is also hilarious, because ... it just is hilarious.
Now this book has the writer guy talking directly to the readers.
(I have never seen Mo show himself so openly but he looks good in a bathrobe...anyway) He asks for some help here.... from his readers and from then on, the kids, the writer and Pigeon have a lot to talk about.
The familiar tone that Mo infers through his pictures and phrases such as "Maybe YOU need a bath" is performed with perfect inflection and body moves.
So back to the talk I think we should have with the Concepts of Print of experts...
Very young young children make inferences! In fact most of reading is just one big inferential walk in the park.
eg: You say something, I infer that I know ALL that you are saying without you really needing to even say all of it)
This book totally nails down my observation that kids read the visuals as text. With very little prompting the readers perform each page with style and grace, perfectly matching each inferred emotion.
This book by Adam Lehrhaupt and illustrated by Matthew Forsythe is one of many that talk directly to the reader and make the book experience active and unpredictable. (Just like in real life or in play)
The Crayon Box, This Story Starts Here, by Caroline Merola and the Spiederwick Chronicles by Tony De Terlizza and Holly Black are just a few of the clever and sophisticated texts that reveal that they respect their knowledgeable readers for the intelligent beings that they are.
All we need to do is Read Three Stories a Day-It is the BEST WAY to fully engage kids in meaningful literacy/language experiences. All learning is SOCIAL and all reading is just conversations -TALK and PLAY wrapped up in black squiggly lines. So even though the Reading Experts think that kids at five years of age should know that a book has a front and a back, (Ah Duh!) we know they know SO MUCH MORE!!!!
Let me know about your brilliant readers. I also have collected many books that are "Grandkids Worthy". I would be happy to send you a list of my current favourites.
As always,
In friendship,
Donna Klockars,
aka The Literacy Lady
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