Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Books Without Pictures Are Not Necessarily Pictureless

My 6 yr old loves to read. His love of reading has been cultivated by keeping on hand a lot of books that are geared towards his favorite subjects.

It seems like, at least in our limited experience with one girl and one boy, that the girl is willing to read just about anything, whereas the boy particularly likes things that are "boyish" (frontiersmen, soldiers, wars, weaponry).

At a garage sale the other day I came upon a couple of Landmark books - one on Lewis and Clarke and one on D-Day. I began reading the D-Day book to the children and they enjoyed it. There are some actual photos in the book which I'm sure helped enforce the fact that it all really happened.

My dh and I seemed to remember an old black & white movie on D-Day...I searched the library and found it - The Longest Day. I reserved it.

While going through some books on my desk later I found another D-Day book "G.I. Joe at D-Day". An easy reader chapter book with almost no pictures.

It's hard for kids to read books without many pictures - at least that is the way I always felt. Even now if I'm reading a non-fiction book I want pictures. Don't write your autobiography or a biography and then skimp on photos!

Anyway - ds was able to finish his D-Day book in almost one sitting and afterwards he said to me... "It's OK if there are not many pictures - because even if there are no pictures you can still see it in your head." Ahhhh - imagination! A good writer can put pictures in your mind without including them in the book.

2 comments:

TheSaxonHus said...

"The Longest Day" film, starring John Wayne and a host of stars from the past, is a classic military action. You do see people killed but I don't recall a lot of blood. No need for that (unlike "Saving Private Ryan"). I've always enjoyed the film though it is a bit lengthy.

CanadianGrandma said...

I believe that "The Longest Day" is a VERY long movie...about three hours and 45 mins. It is so true about the statement your son made that you can "see" the pictures in your mind!