Picturebooks were one format of multimodal text used during the classroom-based research that is featured in this article. Although the research conducted with a class of grade 7 students had several overarching purposes, the two most relevant to this article were to investigate student development of visual meaning-making skills and competencies…

This study illustrates the presence of Mock Spanish in some English-based picture books and the ways this usage misrepresents Latino people, language, and culture. The author conducted a critical content analysis of five Skippyjon Jones books. Her guiding question was, How is language used, particularly Spanish, in these English texts, and what…

In this article, the authors situate their discussion of diverse narrative structures in the context of oral storytelling practices and postmodern picturebooks. They focus on three contemporary picturebooks: "Don't Read This Book!" (Lewis, 2009), "Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall Thin Tale" (Hopkins, 2008), and "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other…

Young children notice and make use of illustrations in picture books as they read independently as evidenced by statements such as this one from Sarah's retelling of "The Wolf's Chicken Stew": "He couldn't catch him; so he did like this (child folds arms across chest) against the tree". Scholars in the field of children's literature have long…

Ideological assumptions about childhood play into the production and selection of children's literature. Various ideologies proclaim that children should be happy and free from stories of evil, children's literature should help children encounter the joys in life, it should be filled with bright colors to keep children's attention, and it should…

In the world of children's literature, analyses of the distribution and representation of gender, biological sex, and gendered behavior in picturebooks often focused on Caldecott Award-winning literature. As the most prestigious award for American children's picturebooks, titles that receive this honor have a profound influence on the field of…

Censorship is not a new phenomenon in the field of children's literature. Children's and young adult books are often scrutinized for text and illustrations that may be found questionable for use with young readers. If deemed inappropriate, these books become the subjects of controversial debate and may fall victim to censorship. Although numerous…

New York City has been an inspiration for some of the finest and most memorable children's literature published. Regardless of whether or not readers have ever visited the Big Apple, their understanding of New York is likely to be informed by the representations found in children's books. In addition, scholars of children's literature recognize…

Scholars agree that reading pictures is a multifaceted act. Interestingly, children often look at illustrations more closely and "see" details in picture that are missed by "skipping and scanning" adults. Although the illustrations in picture books are a "source of aesthetic delight," "everything" about the illustrations conveys "information about…

David Wiesner's 2007 Caldecott Medal-winning "Flotsam" blends the events of everyday life with the surreal. As he often does in his picture books, Wiesner plays with size and scale, opening "Flotsam" with a full-page illustration of a sand crab and the enormous eye behind it before pulling back on the second page to reveal the creature's actual…

In this article, the author relates the creative process involved in the way he writes and illustrate picturebooks. His understanding of the analysis and creative processes focusing on picturebooks is informed from two distinct, yet complementary, perspectives. First, the author is an Associate Professor of Literacy Education and Children's…

During the post-convention of the 2006 National Council of Teachers of English Conference, members of the Children's Literature Assembly organized and sponsored a day-long workshop on the subject of developing visual literacy within the context of picture books. The workshop featured children's book illustrators (LeUyen Pham, Margaret…

During the past three years, the author has been exploring Grade 5 students' processes of reading and understanding contemporary picturebooks with Radical Change characteristics and metafictive devices, and examining how students use their knowledge of these characteristics and devices to create their own texts. "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other…

Beginning a study of literary sense of place with books about New York City makes sense because both children and adults are likely to be familiar with the city through movies, television, and advertisements, even if they have never been there. By paying close attention to the ways in which authors and illustrators convey a sense of place in these…

With her recent book, "Paint the Wind" (2007), hitting the shelves this fall, author Pam Munoz Ryan delivers a welcome addition to the 25 plus books she has written for young people, including her award-winning novels "Esperanza Rising" (2000) and "Riding Freedom" (1998) and picture books "Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride" (1999) and "When Marian…