Children Reading

Children Reading 

Children Reading Scholars agree that reading pictures is indeed a multifaceted act. Further, children often look at illustrations more closely and "see" details in pictures (Kiefer, 1995) that are missed by "skipping and scanning" adults (Meek, 1988, p. 19). Several individuals have explored how children read images in text (Arizpe & Styles, 2003; Kiefer, 1995; Styles & Arizpe, 2001; Walsh, 2003). For example, Arizpe and Styles (2003) used three multilayered picture books to investigate how children ages 4-11 read visual texts. The researchers found that the children, who participated in individual and group interviews about the literature, were sophisticated readers of visual texts. 

The children "read colours, borders, body language, framing devices, covers, endpapers, visual metaphors and visual jokes" (p. 224). Walsh (2003) also examined children's reading of visual texts and found that the images in picture books evoked a variety of responses in the young children participating in her research. Kiefer's (1995) work also revealed how the illustrations in picture books influenced children's oral, written, visual, and representative responses. She used Halliday's (1969) work on functions of language to assist her in developing a taxonomy that described the children's verbal responses to various picture books. Kiefer's taxonomy also reflected the developmental differences she observed and recorded in the children's responses (p. 25). Reading picture books to children is a common pedagogical practice in many primary classrooms. Often, children are asked to create visual texts after picture book read-aloud sessions. In the study conducted by Arizpe and Styles (2003), the participants drew pictures in response to the three selections of children's literature. The researchers examined the literal understanding, overall effect, and internal structure of the children's drawings, and concluded that the children's drawings demonstrated "that even the youngest children can interpret, comprehend and communicate the visual-far beyond what they might be assumed to know" (p. 138).

Arizpe and Styles believe that the children developed "deeper understanding[s] through their visual explorations" (p. 138). Like Arizpe and Styles, and other researchers, I am interested in children's visual responses to literature, and how adults, especially teachers, "read" the pictures created by children. Do adults skip and scan as they look at the children's visual texts? Do teachers privilege students' written text over their visual text, therefore creating a binary opposition? Or do teachers consider the ecology of the children's work? One of the purposes of this article is to encourage adults to recognize and respect the interanimation of image and word (Lewis, 2001) in children's work. The student work described in this article was collected during a study that explored young children's responses to and interpretations of eight picture books with metafictive devices (Pantaleo, 2004, 2005). The article focuses on the first-grade children's visual and written responses to the picture books and describes the relationship between the students' visual and verbal texts with respect to storytelling. The article discusses the value of viewing children's work as miniature ecosystems (Lewis, 2001) and the importance of developing children's visual literacy skills.