I just read the picture book Uptown by Bryan Collier. The pictures in this book are amazing. On many of the pages I didn't even want or remember to read the words! The blend of photographs and paper is just outstanding.My favorite page reads: "Uptown is a row of brownstones. I like the way they come together when you look at them down the block. They look like they're made of chocolate." I caught myself smiling when I read this because it is so true. And the picture of the brownstones on this page is actually done with photographs of chocolate bars!
As I enjoyed spending a few minutes with each page, looking at the detail, I began to wonder if children would really appreciate those details that we as adults notice. Would a third grader really read the words and then spend the 2 minutes, as I did, really looking at the picture? I think that if I were to use this in a classroom, I would really encourage my students to take a closer look at the pages, examining every piece of the pictures, noticing the details. I really enjoyed this book because it gave me a great visual of Harlem- chocolate brownstones and everything!
5 comments:
What a fabulous opportunity to model to a child the active skill of being observant! If only a child could know and experience descriptive words and images to describe all that is around him to make our teaching jobs easier!
I agree with you, Trish. I'm not sure 3rd graders would sit and admire the art for minutes as you did. I think, though, you'd be doing the right thing by calling their attention to the fine details. And, by doing this, you'll get your students in the habit of calling themselves to details over time. :-)
Once again, another great picturebook that I have not yet discovered. I love how the illustrator used chocolate bars to describe the look of the Harlem brownstones! This would immeditely draw children in to the illustrations and provide them with a powerful image of this culturally significant place! The illustrator wanted children to envision a postive image of Harlem and I am sure this happened based on your description of the illustrations. This book would certainly lend itself to a fruitful discussion about how the details within the illustrations capture Harlem brownstones. You said that you were uncertain as to whether or not 3rd graders woud attend to the details independently. These types of books provide the best opportunity for teachers to challenge their students and stretch their thinking about visual images they encounter.
I miss so many important things my first time through a book. I read everything several times. The first time is just to see if it really interests me. As I get more comfortable with the story line, I pay close attention to the illustrations and undercurrents in the story. This is how I select teachable moments. So I probably would have missed the chocolate bars the first time through.
Wow! Your blog entry really inspired me to read this picturebook. I will have to add this book to my list of must-reads. As far as your question about children noticing the picture detail, I would have to agree with Lindsay. For most children, I think it would take some teacher modeling to show how important and unique the pictures are to the reader. I am trying to think of my classroom.... I am betting that 2 students in my 3rd grade class, who are very interested in art, would take note of the pictures. However, if I modeled and showed the students how exciting and valuable the pictures were to a story, then my chances of having children notice the unique pages would increase. Oh, how important that modeling piece is for our students!
Post a Comment