Picture Book Analysis

Picture books are books written for native speakers and an excellent way to use in Norwegian classrooms for language learning. For many children, the picture book represents the first meeting of authentic literature in English classrooms. Reading stories with pupils introduces them to the complex nature of language and helps them learn important language skills.

Most people think about picture books as a book with pictures made for children. This is in contrast to Birketveit & Williams (2013), who says several picture books also are meant for older pupils and adults. In the knowledge promotion under basic skills, I quote: “Being able to read in English means the ability to create meaning by reading different types of text. It means reading

We can detect things in the picture the text does not say anything about and fill out the “empty spaces” (Birkeland & Mjør) 2012. It means image and text have different affordances and that they have different communicative potentials.

Picture books are published in different formats, from large to small, rectangular or square, landscape or portrait. The format can create an expectation for the reader.

When the picture book has a horizontal rectangular format, the story of a journey for the main character.

Perspective and image views are used as meaningful elements in the book. We have three different perspectives that are common: the bird’s eye view, the frog perspective and the value perspective tells us about what is important in the picture.

Different types of genre books are associated with different amounts and types of language and each will encourage a different dialog or conversation with children. I can mention a few examples; picture storybooks (Brown bear, Brown Bear what do you see by Eric Carle), participation books (Spot Goes to the Park by Eric Hill), predictable books (The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle), folktales and fables (Goldilocks and the three bears by James Marshall) and poetry and nursery rhymes for children. However, the type of books read to children contributes to the depth of their learning. It is important to try to include

Post-reading activities

The post-reading activities will to help learners make sense of what they have read. It will develop the vocabulary and gives the opportunity to be oral active. A post-reading activity can also be creative writing and other activities.

The activities from “Brown bear, brown bear what do you see” was to retell the story and make our own picture book. The original book was in the classroom all year, and I heard the pupils read it for each other several times.

In the end, we made a photo story where the pupils made their own story based on the book and they spoke in to a microphone.

To conclude:

Reading stories with children introduces them to the complex nature of language and helps them in acquiring important language skills. However, the type of books read to children contributes to the depth of their learning. Picture books are not only books with pictures but also a world on its own. When you start to read a book you find interesting, the time flies and you seems to be in a different world. If I as a teacher can help and support my pupils to love books, my mission will be