✨ 𝒮𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝐼𝓃𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 ✨
"A book is a dream
that you hold in your hands."
Neil Gaiman
Literature can inspire. Storybooks are an integral part of our learning environment. They are incorporated throughout the space to guide and inspire our little learners. There are books in our block building area, the play kitchen, within the math materials space, the art studio, and of course in the bookshelf. Really there are books everywhere! There is no doubt that I love picture books. I always have because I am a visual learner. I can remember as a child being so disappointed the first time that I was handed a chapter book with no pictures. I always loved to draw the illustrations in the books that surrounded me as a child. It's perhaps why graphic novel books are so well-loved by children in their tweens and teens. I know my own two children love them.
Within the learning environment, we observe children as they explore books even before they have an awareness of text. The illustrations allow them to visually read the story and when we engage in dialogue with children about their observations from the book we begin their journey in reading.
The storybook, "Color Blocked" by Ashley Sorenson and David Miles sparked the creative thinking and work by the children for several weeks now. This engaging storybook was shared with the children as they gathered together in the morning. They were then offered the following at the table, watercolours, black fine-tipped markers, and the illustration of the colour factory in black and white from the storybook. Several children situated themselves at the table and began to visually dissect the image from the text. When they were challenged by the complexity of this image we guided them through beginning at the top and drawing small sections at a time of the image on their paper. Defining lines and shapes step by step and breaking down the image visually helped in developing their confidence in drawing this image.
The dedication of the children to their creative process was amazing. Each day several of them would ask to return to their artistic work. Once they were satisfied with the drawing they added colour using the watercolour paint. Each piece was unique and spoke of the children's interpretations of the story and what they thought a colour factory might look like.
Storybooks provide a jumping-off point for further inquiry within children's play and learning. They are an integral part of our programming and research alongside the children. Storybooks provide young children with inspiration and information. We explore a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts. The ability to gather information and engage in the learning process with books enables children to become lifelong learners and independent researchers of their ideas. The joy of reading begins with a love of books. Here's to many creative explorations sparked by the inspiring illustrations found within storybooks.
What picture books inspire you? Share below in the comments we are always looking to add new titles to our ever growing book collection.
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"I do believe something magical
can happen when you read a book."
J.K. Rowling
Sincerely,
❤️
𝑀𝒾𝒸𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑒
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