Comments on eensies: {sharing} How to Select a Good Picture Book

Great style. I would like to write that way.

2011-03-18T13:59:17.261-04:00

Great style. I would like to write that way.

@Anonymous & @Lettie: you reminded me of my fr...

2011-02-08T08:57:03.982-05:00

@Anonymous & @Lettie: you reminded me of my friend's dissertation. she studied the cognition of reading acquisition in early elementary students (she's fancy!).

she found that when she embedded novel information that the students are expected to learn in a story about familiar characters (e.g., Harry Potter), they learned faster and in a much more memorable way than if the new info was presented in either expository text (ie, textbook language) or a story with unfamiliar characters.

In other words, the characters our children love -- whether from TV, movies or classic literature -- are powerful teachers. With that in mind, I hope to strike a balance in our home library. And I like your approach, @ Anonymous, of using the library as a place where my boys can access, um, Spider Man.

Thanks for the great post and OhDeeDoh link!

This made me laugh- I've had the exact same co...

2011-02-05T21:45:31.848-05:00

This made me laugh- I've had the exact same conversation with my daughter when she's asked me read a Dora book or other such tv-book... It's not that I mind the characters necessarily, but the writing is just awful! There are so, so many great books out there- We are in a funny place now though as my 4.5 yr old is wanting only chapter books and snubbing the beautiful picture book collection I've compiled over the past 5+ yrs... Sad!

Anonymous you make a REALLY good point! And remind...

2011-02-05T08:30:10.734-05:00

Anonymous you make a REALLY good point! And reminded me that when I was working with special needs third graders who were reading on a kindergarten level those star wars type early readers were often the ticket to get them excited about reading. Thanks for sharing!

@Lettie you seem to have found a nice balance that works for you and your boys.

We have a lot of those books you are referring to....

2011-02-05T00:11:25.268-05:00

We have a lot of those books you are referring to. They are fun for my boys to look at to remember a movie they have seen without us having to watch the movie over and over. I figure it's a win-win. They get their movie story, but they are also engaged with books. Neither reads yet, so the written content doesn't really matter right now. We have plenty of other great books that I love to read with them, but I figure a looking at TV/movie character book beats watching the movies and shows any day. (And the Richard Scarry book mentioned on OhhDeedoh is a favorite around here)

I agree wholeheartedly and have kept OUR collectio...

2011-02-04T16:01:11.606-05:00

I agree wholeheartedly and have kept OUR collection clean. However, I am beginning to slip with library books as my oldest buddy is starting to read in kindergarten - now I have to let him explore and it is important that he is interested enough to want to read - bring it on Star Wars early readers!!!