scholarly journals "Lessons to flight" to start living again. Visual narrative in a state time of emergency. The ridescovery of educational potential

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Zizioli

In the months of lockdown, in that suspended time, we recovered the «lessons of the Open» that books have to offer (Recalcati, 2018). Narratives, art expressions which «fit on the shelf» (Lee, 2012, p.170), allowed children to live an enveloping experience (Petit, 2002/2010), to discover fragments of beauty, thus contrasting boredom and educational poverty in its diverse forms. This essay will look into how beauty was unexpectedly found in the visual narrative, nurturing hope to overcome fears, to seize the emergency as an occasion to free oneself of what is excess, to be strong in bravely accepting adversities and to cultivate the ability to look at reality from original perspectives, as the picture book Flight lessons teaches us. Here, through the use of metaphor, the young readers are taught that living is a little like flying and that it is “not necessary to reach the stars to touch the sky” (Vainio, 2008/2021).

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Feisst

Ohmura, Tomoko. The Long, Long Line. Toronto, ON: OwlKids Books, 2013. Print."Thank you for waiting, and welcome aboard! One at a time, please!" mentions the bird, who is the ride guide on this mysterious ride for which 50 different animals have patiently lined up. As they wait, the bird flies amongst them, offering reassuring words as they guess as to what they may be in line for and play word games to pass the time.  The anticipation builds, and finally they start boarding the ride, which turns out to be a very large whale on which the animals ride while the whale performs somersaults, dives and sprays. Children will be delighted by all 50 animals represented on the large gatefold spread in the center of the book, from the smallest frog to the largest elephant.Children will love the small details such as the tail of the next animal in line ‘peeking’ around the corner of the page and the size of the animals increasing as they get closer to the ride giving perspective of size. A list of all 50 animals is included at the back for easy reference when young readers get stumped by a species. While this is indeed a picture book aimed at young children it is no quick read – children will want to hear every word of the animals’ conversations as they wait and will want to count as they go, and likely once all the animals are aboard the whale they will want to confirm there are indeed 50 animals present, perhaps multiple times.The colourful illustrations by the author are cute and engaging and show a wide range of expressions and interplay between the animals.  The language felt slightly unnatural but this may be a result of this edition being a translation of the original Japanese work Nanno Gyoretsu? A fun book for public and elementary schools as well as a nice addition to science or math based storytime in lower elementary grades.The Long, Long Line was selected as one of the best children’s books of 2013 by Kirkus Reviews.Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Debbie FeisstDebbie is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta.  When not renovating, she enjoys travel, fitness and young adult fiction.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 49-71
Author(s):  
Anastasia Ulanowicz

“We are the People”: The Holodomor and North American-Ukrainian Diasporic Memory in Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch’s Enough. Although the Holodomor — the Ukrainian famine of 1932–1933 — has played a major role in the cultural memory of Ukrainian diasporic communities in the United States and Canada, relatively few North American children’s books directly represent this traumatic historical event. One exception, however, is Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch’s and Michael Martchenko’s picture book, Enough 2000, which adapts a traditional Ukrainian folktale in order to introduce young readers to the historical and polit­ical circumstances in which this artificial famine occurred. By drawing on what scholar Jack Zipes has identified as the “subversive potential” of fairy tales, Skrypuch and Martchenko critique the ironies and injustices that undergirded Soviet forced collectivization and Stalinist famine policy. Additionally, they explicitly set a portion of their fairy tale adaptation in Canada in order to gesture to the role played by the Holodomor in structuring diasporic memory and identity, especially in relation to post-Independ­ence era Ukraine.«Мы — народ»: Голодомор и североамериканско-украинская диаспорная память в книге Enough Марши Форчук Скрыпух. Несмотря на то, что Голодомор — голод в Украине 1932–1933 гoдов — сыграл важную роль в культурной памяти украинских диаспорных общин в Соеди­ненных Штатах и Канаде, относительно мало североамериканских детских книг описывает это травматическое событие. Важное место в этом контексте является книга Марши Форчук Скры­пух и Майкла Мартченко «Достаточно» 2000, которая адаптирует традиционную украинскую сказку для того, чтобы познакомить молодых читателей с историческими и политическими обстоятельствами этого искусственного голода. Опираясь на то, что ученый Джек Зайпс назвал «подрывным потенциалом» сказок, Скрыпух и Мартченко критикуют иронию и несправедли­вость советской принудительной коллективизации и политики сталинского голода. Кроме того, они установили часть своей сказочной адаптации в Канаде, чтобы показать роль Голодомора в структурировании диаспорной памяти и самобытности, и связи последних с независимой Украиной.


2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Frail

Siminovich, Lorena. I Like Vegetables: A Touch-and-Feel Board Book. Somerville: Candlewick Press, 2011. Print.“I Like Vegetables” is a dream come true for any nutritionally conscience parent, children’s librarian or teacher. The brightly hued collage illustrations are intriguingly textured with patterns and “touch & feel” inlays. Silky peas and rough-skinned carrots invite young readers to learn about vegetables. The layout is quite clever as it leverages contrast and comparison as a learning method. On one side of the page vegetables are depicted as they would appear growing in the garden while on the other side they are in the home being prepared for the dinner table. In addition, the nature side of the page illustrates the concept of opposites. For example, there are “tall” and “short” cornstalks. Orange carrot roots are “below” the ground, while the feathery green tops are “above”. The indoor side of the page features close-ups of vegetables against a wood-grain background that evokes a cutting board. Here children get a different perspective on the harvested veggies. We see shelled peas, open cornhusks and a cross-section of a pumpkin. The concluding series of images features an “empty” gardener’s basket next to a basket “full” of colourful vegetables on a blue and white gingham picnic tablecloth inlay.  This is primarily a picture book with only the names of the vegetables and the two opposing concepts appearing on each page. The typeset is Helvetica and is large and easy to read.  It is a sturdy board book and the inlays could not be easily ripped out or damaged. It is therefore a welcome addition to any toddler’s library. Other titles in the “I Like” series by Siminovich include: “I Like Toys “, “I Like Bugs” and “I Like Fruit”. “I Like Vegetables” is sure to engage children from ages 1-3. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Kim FrailKim is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta. Children’s literature is a big part of her world at work and at home. She also enjoys gardening, renovating and keeping up with her two-year old. 


2020 ◽  
pp. 96-107
Author(s):  
E.S. Romanicheva

The author has aimed at unleashing the educational potential of contemporary children’s and adolescent books and the possibilities of working with them in the class setting. The books (the ones mentioned in the research body are included in the first part of the bibliography) are inherently texts of a new nature, they suggest markedly different practices of working with them which allow to synthesize their verbal and visual components while reading them. For this very reason work with them should be included in the educational process – because while working like that a student will master close reading techniques, ways of checking one’s own understanding and will also fulfill creative tasks. Describing and analyzing the selected books, the author demonstrates which reading practices (reading with pauses, synthesizing a continuous and discontinuous text while reading, creative tasks based on the texts and others) are offered by the designer on the pages of the books and claims that mastering publishers’ strategies, if it becomes a professional goal, will considerably enlarge teachers’ methodological instrumentarium, will allow teachers to master new techniques of working with a multicode text and to include the former into the learning process. In the course of the research the author introduces and explains concepts that are new for the national methodology of teaching literature: text of a new nature, architecture of a book – and justifies the need for using them in the professional discourse. Generally, the article demonstrates the need for engaging ‘picture books’ at the lessons of literature as long as dealing with them will broaden the reading circle of a contemporary student and will prepare them for further independent reading of various texts and books.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 215-234
Author(s):  
Olga Mäeots ◽  

“The Three Little Pigs” is one of the most famous folk tales and has been adapted many times. The paper is devoted to the evolution of the classical narration as it was presented in picture-books in the 20 th century. The revisions examined are: Walt Disney’s book based on the animated film (1933), Russian adaptation made by Sergey Mikhalkov (1936, 1957) as well as two picture-books which were published at the end of 20 th century in USA and Great Britain and suggest new versions of the classical story — Jon Scieszka’s and Lane Smith’s “The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs” (1989) and “The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig” by Eugene Trivizas and Helen Oxenbury (1993). All the books demonstrate different variants of interaction between the textual and visual contents. The recent versions of the tale reveal important trends: visual narrative presents a substantive semantics and plays increasingly significant role in modern picture-books. The evaluation of the genre introduces multiple perspectives and challenge reader to interact, to create ambiguous meanings rather than suggest a define statement — thus making reception more complicated and inspiring.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Pearce

Greetings Everyone,The news for this new year’s issue consists mainly of a list of a major children’s literature awards that have been announced, as well as a few upcoming conferences.AWARDS2017 ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) Book and Media Award WinnersJohn Newberry MedalThe Girl Who Drank the Moon Written by Kelly Barnhill and published by Algonquin Young Readers, an imprint of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman PublishingNewberry Honour BooksFreedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan written and illustrated by Ashley Bryan and published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing DivisionThe Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog written by Adam Gidwitz, illustrated by Hatem Aly and published by Dutton Children's Books, Penguin Young Readers Group, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLCWolf Hollow written by Lauren Wolk and published by Dutton Children's Books, Penguin Young Readers Group, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLCRandolph Caldecott MedalRadiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat illustrated by Javaka Steptoe, written by Javaka Steptoe and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.Caldecot Honour BooksDu Iz Tak? illustrated and written by Carson Ellis, and published by Candlewick PressFreedom in Congo Square illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and published by Little Bee Books, an imprint of Bonnier Publishing GroupLeave Me Alone! illustrated and written by Vera Brosgol and published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited PartnershipThey All Saw a Cat illustrated and written by Brendan Wenzel and published by Chronicle Books LLCLaura Ingalls Wilder AwardNikki Grimes -- Her award-winning works include “Bronx Masquerade,” recipient of the Coretta Scott King Author Award in 2003, and “Words with Wings,” the recipient of a Coretta Scott King Author Honor in 2014. Grimes is also the recipient of the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award in 2016 and the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children in 2006.2018 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor AwardNaomi Shihab Nye will deliver the 2018 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture.Mildred L. Batchelder AwardCry, Heart, But Never Break - Originally published in Danish in 2001 as “Græd blot hjerte,” the book was written by Glenn Ringtved, illustrated by Charolotte Pardi, translated by Robert Moulthrop and published by Enchanted Lion Books.Batchelder Honour BooksAs Time Went By published by NorthSouth Books, Inc., written and illustrated by José Sanabria and translated from the German by Audrey HallOver the Ocean published by Chronicle Books LLC, written and illustrated by Taro Gomi and translated from the Japanese by Taylor NormanPura Belpre (Author) AwardJuana & Lucas written by Juana Medina, is the Pura Belpré Author Award winner. The book is illustrated by Juana Medina and published by Candlewick PressPura Belpre (Illustrator) AwardLowriders to the Center of the Earth illustrated by Raúl Gonzalez, written by Cathy Camper and published by Chronicle Books LLCAndrew Carnegie MedalRyan Swenar Dreamscape Media, LLC, producer of “Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music”Theodor Seuss Geisel AwardWe Are Growing: A Mo Willems’ Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! Book written by Laurie Keller. The book is published by Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Book GroupRobert F. Sibert Informational Book MedalMarch: Book Three written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, published by Top Shelf Productions, an imprint of IDW Publishing, a division of Idea and Design Works LLC  Stonewall Book Awards - ALA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT)Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature AwardIf I Was Your Girl written by Meredith Russo and published by Flatiron BooksMagnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor written by Rick Riordan and published by Disney Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book GroupHonor BooksPride: Celebrating Diversity & Community written by Robin Stevenson and published by Orca Book PublishersUnbecoming written by Jenny Downham and published by Scholastic Inc. by arrangement with David Fickling BooksWhen the Moon Was Ours written by Anna-Marie McLemore and published by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press2017 Children’s Literature Association Phoenix AwardsPhoenix Award  2017Wish Me Luck by James Heneghan Farrar Straus Giroux, 1997Phoenix Honor Books 2017Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman HarperCollins, 1997Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye Simon & Schuster, 19972017 Phoenix Picture Book AwardTell Me a Season by Mary McKenna Siddals & Petra Mathers Clarion Books, 1997One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Tale by Demi Scholastic, 1997 CONFERENCESMarchSerendipity 2017: From Beginning to End (Life, Death, and Everything In Between) The Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable Mar. 4, 2017 | 8am to 3:30 pm | UBC Ike Barber LibraryJuneChildren’s Literature Association ConferenceHosted by the University of South Florida June 22-24, 2017 Tampa, FL  Hilton Tampa Downtown Hotel Conference Theme: Imagined FuturesJulyInternational Research Society for Children’s Literature (IRSCL) Congress 2017 – Toronto July 29 - August 2, 2017  Keele Campus, York University  The Congress theme is “Possible & Impossible Children: Intersections of Children’s Literature & Childhood Studies." That is all for this issue. Best wishes!Hanne Pearce, Communication Editor 


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Tan

Hartt-Sussman, Heather. Noni speaks up. Tundra Books, 2016.Nominated for the Ontario Library Association’s Blue Spruce Award, Noni speaks up is the third book in the Noni series by Toronto-based children’s picture book author, Heather Hartt-Sussman, and acclaimed illustrator Geneviève Côté.When Noni sees Hector being bullied by other kids at school, and is encouraged by her friends to join in, she is unable to speak up; Noni is paralyzed by fear of making enemies if she stands up for her schoolmate. Noni feels bad for not defending Hector, but is uncertain about what to do.During a restless night, she worries about what might happen if she doesn’t take her friends’ side. She considers the things Hector is being bullied about. As Noni reflects on her relationships with her friends, she notices that they sometimes say and do things to her that are hurtful.When Noni goes to school the next day, she sees Hector being bullied again and experiences the same fear and inability to speak. But when her friend laughs at Hector’s misfortune, Noni has had enough and screws up the courage to defend Hector. Speaking out stops her friend laughing, and Noni and a grateful Hector actively ignore the bully’s taunting, demonstrating another strategy for dealing with bullying.Noni speaks up presents a realistic scenario and provides accurate, helpful information for dealing with bullying, in an empathic and reassuring manner. Young readers will relate to the events in the story, and the Noni models positive behaviour that children experiencing a similar issue could put into practice. This book meets the Juvenile Health Fiction Checklist criteria (described in the October 2014 issue of the Deakin Review).Readers who enjoy Noni speaks up can re-connect with Noni in Hartt-Sussman’s other books, Noni is nervous and Noni says no.Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Maria TanMaria is a sessional instructor at the University of Alberta and a former editorial team member of the Deakin Review. She is the co-author, with Sandy Campbell, of the Children’s Health Fiction Checklist, described in the October 2014 Special Issue of the Deakin Review (Vol. 4, No. 2) https://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/deakinreview/article/view/23321.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Frail

Fitch, Sheree. Night Sky Wheel Ride. Illus. Yayo. Vancouver : Tradewind Books, 2012. Print.Fans of Sheree Fitch will not be disappointed by the magical dream world circus presented in "Night Sky Wheel Ride". Young readers are drawn into the ethereal journey by the main characters as they wonder if they are up to the challenge of riding the big wheel: "Are we big enough this year, Mama? Are we brave enough, Brother? Sister are you ready to fly?"  This book will work well as a bedtime or naptime story as Fitch's rhymes and scenarios are a little softer and less gregarious than some of her other books. For example, the siblings contemplate the night sky as they enjoy the ride: "Swinging, swaying, staying / up top the stopped ferris wheel / Dizzy-dazed we gaze upfeel the moon's breath on our faces/soft as dandelion's fuzz". However, there are certainly bursts of action and energy often accented by onomatopoeic words, such as when the children first take flight: “Hop up to knee knock rockety rock swiggle sway creak squeak rickety ratcheting up! up! up!”Illustrator Yayo's images are bright, whimsical and echo a child's imagination and point of view where everyday objects morph into magic: a roller coaster glides along the curved edges of a laundry basket while the big wheel can be seen inside the spinning drum of a washing machine. There are forests of cotton candy, and the colourful dots of people “waayyy down on the ground” are drawn as "dancing jellybeans".  The back and front covers and inside pages are particularly attractive as they feature phosphorescent images on a dark background.Throughout the story the text is woven in and out of the illustrations to reflect the movements of the main characters and other objects. This helps to engage readers without hindering the storyteller as the text is large and legible. According the publisher's web site it is recommended for ages 3-4.  It would make an excellent addition to a home, school or public library picture book collection.Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Kim FrailKim is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta. Children’s literature is a big part of her world at work and at home. She also enjoys gardening, renovating and keeping up with her kids.


Literator ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
S.F. Greyling

In the Transgressions and boundaries of the page project, artists and writers were invited to create artist’s books and thereby to transcend the possibilities of the codex form of the book. This article discusses one of the projects, namely the creative remediation by Fanie Viljoen of his own short story (word), Pynstiller [‘Painkiller’], which deals with the phenomenon of selfmutilation among teenagers, into a graphic novel (word and image). The creative process and product are investigated according to the concepts of media, narratology, picture book and comic book theory. With reference to the two versions of the text, it is indicated how the narrative and theme of the short story are emphasised or extended in the graphic version, and particularly how access to the experienced world of the first-person narrator has been broadened. It appears that the visual narrative elements and the interaction between word and image together contribute towards the narrative, characterisation, portrayal of the theme and the subsequent effect on the reader-viewer. Finally, Fanie Viljoen’s remediation of Pynstiller confirms the premise that the artist’s book is an ideal medium to challenge and transcend boundaries.


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