The+Language+of+Picture+Storybooks

What is important to consider about the language of picture storybooks?
Added by Tarah de Patino

The language used in picture storybooks is a very important aspect of the book. There are many different types of language that can be used and they all should increase enjoyment of the book, both for the child and for the person reading to the child. The language can be silly and humorous, or use nonsense and word play. In //Tumble Bumble//, a tiny bug goes for a walk and in the silly text we see all of the friends the bug meets on his way. Children will love lines like “The startled toad then scared a mouse who bumped into a yellow house.” //Tumble Bumble// also uses rhyming, another type of language often utilized. The language used in picture storybooks should be original and imaginative. Repetition is another successful type of language used to increase the child’s involvement with the book. In //Mouse// Paint, the author uses similar lines to tell the story of three mice who step in paint and mix them to create new colors. The reader knows what to expect and will enjoy finding out the next color created. Some books are written for different levels of reading. The language chosen in a beginning reader’s book is just as important as the language chosen for higher level readers. Children can gain confidence with their reading when the language is interesting and appropriate. The language should draw the child in and make them want to continue reading the story, no matter the level. Some authors, such as Beatrix Potter, use intelligent language and a higher level vocabulary. This is important because the more a child hears a word, the more likely they will be to remember and understand it. An example of her style of language would be these lines from //The Tale of Tom Kitten//: “Tom Kitten was quite unable to jump when walking upon his hind legs in trousers. He came up the rockery by degrees, breaking the ferns, and shedding buttons right and left.” Her language sometimes requires more critical thinking since she doesn’t talk down to children. The use of different styles of language in picture storybooks is important because they create the tone of the book which will hopefully draw the reader in for a meaningful reading experience.

Donna E. Norton. //Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children’s Literature//. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company, 1983.

Bond, Felicia. //Tumble Bumble.// Mexico, 1996.

Walsh, Ellen Stoll. //Mouse Paint.// New York: Harcourt brace & Company, 1989.

Potter, Beatrix. //The Tale of Tom Kitten.// New York, The Penguin Group, 1989.

Added by Audrey Alenson : Picture storybooks combine textual and visual language to tell a story or convey meaning that goes beyond what each one tells alone; the text and the illustrations are interdependent and intertwined, and the book’s “language” is in the relationship between the two. There are many elements of the textual language to consider: Does it rhyme? Is it highly structured or repetitive? Is the vocabulary minimal or rich? Is the story line strong enough to hold a reader’s attention? Where does the text fall on the page and what typeface is used? etc.

Bill Martin, Jr.’s book //Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?// establishes a predictable pattern of call and response that also rhymes. It’s the ultimate read aloud for young children, as it welcomes them into the telling immediately. The vocabulary is minimal, but the listener/reader is called upon to participate in a complex process of synthesizing form (color) and content (animal) with the language’s pattern of rhythm and rhyme. At the end, the author turns the lens on his audience and their reading -- what do //they// see? – and the book’s telling is retold, its language and concepts reinforced.

Textual language in //Martha Speaks//, on the other hand, is much more complex and unwieldy. Author Susan Meddaugh includes text as narration, dialogue (speech bubbles) and as part of the illustrations (alphabet soup). A careful reader will notice that Martha’s constant talking seems to burst out of the speech bubbles and then virtually takes over the illustrations on the page until someone shouts, “Shut up!” In both books, it is this complex inter-relationship of text and illustration that propels the story along, creating a fusion of textual and visual language to convey the picture storybook's meaning.

Martin, Bill Jr. //Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See//? New York: Henry Holt, 1992. Meddaugh, Susan. //Martha Speaks//. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992.