Related Texts: Picture Books
Picture books are written for a wide range of ages, from pre-school to adults, but this doesn't make them an easy option. Choosing a book for a young audience (eg Jennie Baker's wordless stories) can be useful if it is well-designed. Choosing a picture book for an older audience (eg Sean Tan's The Arrival) usually gives you a more complex argument.
When analysing picture books remember that the words, illustrations, and layout are equally important. You will need to use literary language to identify language techniques and film vocabulary to describe the visual elements of the text. Hints for describing visual texts can be found at
Visual Grammar [http://www.webquestdirect.com.au/webquest.asp?id=650&page=4923]. Don't describe every page, just choose two or three page-spreads that further your thesis and relate to your set text.
We don't have very many picture books in the school library - I'm working on this for next year! Check back in term one, 2012.
Diane Lucas and Ken Searle - Walking with the Seasons in Kakadu
Tan, Shaun. The Lost Thing.
Memorial, Gary Crew and Shaun Tan
Way Home, Libby Hathorn and Gregory Rogers
My Place, Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins
Belonging, Jeannie Baker http://www.jeanniebaker.com/focus_web/belonging_interview.htm vhttp://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/raps/belonging/welcome.htm
Window, Jeannie Baker
· Tales from Outer Suburbia, Shaun Tan
· My Island Home, from neil Murray's song
· The Island, Greder Armin
· Memorial, Gary Crew and Shaun Tan
· Way Home, Libby Hathorn and Gregory Rogers
· My Place, Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins
· Belonging, Jeannie Baker
· Window, Jeannie Baker
· The Arrival, Shaun Tan A fabulous anaysis of this book (but for the Area of Study: Journeys – be careful that you only use points thdat relate to belonging) can be found if you scroll down to the bottom of the page at http://www.e-rudite.net/peter_skrzynecki.htm Even if you’re not using this text, have a look at this table because it will give you ideas for how to approach other picture books as related texts.
· Possum Magic, Mem Fox
· Ten Little fingers and Ten Little Toes, Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury
· Almond, David, The Savage
Ziba Came on a Boat
by Liz Lofthouse, llustrated by Robert Ingpen. Penguin Viking, 2007. ISBN-13 9780670028610.
Picture book
This is a beautifully told story of a little Afghan girl taking the perilous journey that so many others have taken in the hope of finding freedom. The story moves from the frail fishing boat to Ziba’s memories of home, giving the reader a rich picture of the world that she has come from, including the fear and danger.
This is suitable at all levels.
The Peasant Prince
by Li Cunxin, illustrated by Anne Spudvilas. Viking, 2007. ISBN-13: 9780670070541.
Picture book.
This is simply and lyrically told, using two main unifying symbols – the kite that the boy and his father are flying on the first double page spread, and the father’s story of the frog who wants to escape from the well.
This is suitable for use at all levels.
Woolvs in the Sitee
by Margaret Wild; illustrated by Anne Spudvilas. Picture Puffin, 2008 (2006) ISBN-13: 9780143502562
Picture book for older readers.
This stunning picture book is a superb example of a picture book specifically aimed at older readers. Wild’s use of phonetic spelling gives an appropriately disturbing sense of something primitive and uncontrolled. In a society that has broken down, even the language conventions have been lost.
This could be used at any level.
The Island
by Amin Greder. Allen & Unwin 2007 (2002). ISBN-13: 9781741752663.
Picture book for older readers.
This is a dramatic and disturbing story of what happens when a stranger comes to the island. There are contrasting images of the large, overfed islanders, pitchforks in hand, and the little, naked figure of the outsider. There is a succession of increasingly threatening illustrations of the islanders.
This is suitable for use at all levels.
Interpreter of maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri. Flamingo 2000 (1999). ISBN-13: 9780006551799. 198 pp.
Picture book for older readers.
Nine superb stories – some set in India, some in America – all related in some way to the experience of Bengali Indians. Many of these stories are about alienation and the longing for home.
This is an excellent resource at all levels.
·
When analysing picture books remember that the words, illustrations, and layout are equally important. You will need to use literary language to identify language techniques and film vocabulary to describe the visual elements of the text. Hints for describing visual texts can be found at
Visual Grammar [http://www.webquestdirect.com.au/webquest.asp?id=650&page=4923]. Don't describe every page, just choose two or three page-spreads that further your thesis and relate to your set text.
We don't have very many picture books in the school library - I'm working on this for next year! Check back in term one, 2012.
Diane Lucas and Ken Searle - Walking with the Seasons in Kakadu
Tan, Shaun. The Lost Thing.
Memorial, Gary Crew and Shaun Tan
Way Home, Libby Hathorn and Gregory Rogers
My Place, Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins
Belonging, Jeannie Baker http://www.jeanniebaker.com/focus_web/belonging_interview.htm vhttp://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/raps/belonging/welcome.htm
Window, Jeannie Baker
· Tales from Outer Suburbia, Shaun Tan
· My Island Home, from neil Murray's song
· The Island, Greder Armin
· Memorial, Gary Crew and Shaun Tan
· Way Home, Libby Hathorn and Gregory Rogers
· My Place, Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins
· Belonging, Jeannie Baker
· Window, Jeannie Baker
· The Arrival, Shaun Tan A fabulous anaysis of this book (but for the Area of Study: Journeys – be careful that you only use points thdat relate to belonging) can be found if you scroll down to the bottom of the page at http://www.e-rudite.net/peter_skrzynecki.htm Even if you’re not using this text, have a look at this table because it will give you ideas for how to approach other picture books as related texts.
· Possum Magic, Mem Fox
· Ten Little fingers and Ten Little Toes, Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury
· Almond, David, The Savage
Ziba Came on a Boat
by Liz Lofthouse, llustrated by Robert Ingpen. Penguin Viking, 2007. ISBN-13 9780670028610.
Picture book
This is a beautifully told story of a little Afghan girl taking the perilous journey that so many others have taken in the hope of finding freedom. The story moves from the frail fishing boat to Ziba’s memories of home, giving the reader a rich picture of the world that she has come from, including the fear and danger.
This is suitable at all levels.
The Peasant Prince
by Li Cunxin, illustrated by Anne Spudvilas. Viking, 2007. ISBN-13: 9780670070541.
Picture book.
This is simply and lyrically told, using two main unifying symbols – the kite that the boy and his father are flying on the first double page spread, and the father’s story of the frog who wants to escape from the well.
This is suitable for use at all levels.
Woolvs in the Sitee
by Margaret Wild; illustrated by Anne Spudvilas. Picture Puffin, 2008 (2006) ISBN-13: 9780143502562
Picture book for older readers.
This stunning picture book is a superb example of a picture book specifically aimed at older readers. Wild’s use of phonetic spelling gives an appropriately disturbing sense of something primitive and uncontrolled. In a society that has broken down, even the language conventions have been lost.
This could be used at any level.
The Island
by Amin Greder. Allen & Unwin 2007 (2002). ISBN-13: 9781741752663.
Picture book for older readers.
This is a dramatic and disturbing story of what happens when a stranger comes to the island. There are contrasting images of the large, overfed islanders, pitchforks in hand, and the little, naked figure of the outsider. There is a succession of increasingly threatening illustrations of the islanders.
This is suitable for use at all levels.
Interpreter of maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri. Flamingo 2000 (1999). ISBN-13: 9780006551799. 198 pp.
Picture book for older readers.
Nine superb stories – some set in India, some in America – all related in some way to the experience of Bengali Indians. Many of these stories are about alienation and the longing for home.
This is an excellent resource at all levels.
·
