LLED 565B/921 – Picture Books and Children’s Literacy Development

Picture books which tell a story in words and pictures have often been called the “twice-told tales.”  For the reader, however, there is no separation between the pictures and the text rather the “picture storybook is an imaginative interaction of text and illustrations used to tell a story” (Raines   Isbell, 1994).  In this course we will investigate the formal properties of the picture book, how picture books can facilitate literacy development and the ways in which children interact with them. We will discuss aesthetic theory, theories of text-picture relationships, theories of literacy and theories of literary understanding, and the ways in which these theories connect.   We will also explore research on children’s engagement with and responses to picture books.