prior

The Reading Teacher Vol. 66 Issue 3 pp. 195–206 DOI:10.1002/TRTR.01098 © 2012 International Reading Association

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PICT URE THIS

Visual Literacy as a Pathway to Character Understanding

Lori Ann Prior ■ Angeli Willson ■ Miriam Martinez

What do a mouse, an angry girl, and a terrible monster have in common?

They’re all characters intentionally illustrated to provide ways for

children to interpret literature for literary understanding.

“Alice…having nothing to do…peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, ‘and what use is a book,’ thought Alice, ‘without pictures or conversations?’” (Carroll, 1865, p. 11).

It is likely Alice would be even more enamored

with pictures if she encountered contemporary

fictional picture books in which illustrations so

often play a critical role in developing literary

elements—those building blocks of fiction that enable

readers to understand, interpret, and respond to

literature. Literary elements such as setting, plot, and

character are intertwined and all make significant

contributions to a reader’s understanding and

interpretations of stories (Lukens & Cline, 1995).

However, we believe that character may be

particularly critical to literary meaning making,

and in this article we explore the kinds of pictorial

information young children use to gain insights into

the characters they meet in fictional picture books

and how teachers can help children learn to more

fully use this pictorial information.

Characters and Character DevelopmentCharacters are important to readers for many

reasons. First, characters “enlist readers, hold their

interests, unravel plots, and affect lives” (Martinez

& Roser, 2005, p. vi). Kiefer (2010) observed that

characterization in children’s literature is so important

that even “long after we have forgotten the names” (p.

18) of picture books from our childhood, we often still

recall the names and personalities of many characters

because “they came alive in the pages of books, and

will forever live in our memories” (p. 19).

However, characters do more than draw readers in

and entice them. Characters have been described as

the driving force of stories (Cullinan & Galda, 1998),

and Emery (1996) argued, “character states, such as

their desires, feelings, thoughts, and beliefs, are the

glue that ties the story together” (p. 534).

These arguments suggest that character

understanding may be crucial to readers’ literary

meaning making, especially in light of the

interconnections that exist among character

intentions, conflicts, and thematic understanding

(Golden & Guthrie, 1986). In fact, in her study

of children’s understanding of literary theme,

Lori Ann Prior is a PhD graduate from The University of Texas at San Antonio, USA; e-mail [email protected].

Angeli Wilson is a doctoral candidate at The University of Texas at San Antonio, USA; e-mail [email protected].

Miriam Martinez is a professor at The University of Texas at San Antonio, USA; e-mail [email protected].

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PIC T U R E T H IS: V ISUA L LI T E R AC Y A S A PAT H WAY TO C H A R AC T E R U N DE R STA N DI NG

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Lehr (1991) found that children

who discussed character motivation

were better able to talk about the

central theme of the stories they read.

Therefore, understanding characters

may serve as an important pathway to

deeper levels of meaning.

Character Development Through IllustrationsCharacterization in stories—

including picture books—can be

complex, encompassing character

traits, motivations and goals, feelings,

and relationships. In stories without

illustrations, we know that readers

learn about a character through what

the character says and does, through

what others say about the character,

and through what the narrator reveals.

However, how do these different facets

of character emerge in picture books?

The question is important given the

unique nature of picture books in which

stories are told through the interplay of

pictures and text (Arizpe & Styles, 2003;

Nodelman, 1988; Schwarcz & Schwarcz,

1991; Sipe, 2008a). It is because of this

interplay that picture books have been

described as stories told twice, “once

through the text and once through illus-

tration” (Agosto, 1999, p. 267).

Given the significant contributions of

both illustrations and written words in

picture books, readers must thoughtfully

attend to both sign systems—the

visual as well as the verbal— to deeply

understand the characters. However,

Sipe (2008a) argued that reading visual

images is not something children do

automatically; rather it is something that

must be learned. Thus readers need to

develop insights into the principles of

visual art, including understandings of

the commonly held meanings conveyed

by color, line, shape, and texture (Sipe,

2008a).

For example, when children

encounter the extensive use of red in

story illustrations, if they are familiar

with cultural associations for the color,

they are likely to perceive anger, danger,

or love depending on the context of

the color’s use in the illustration. Also,

when children are taught to understand

artistic conventions such as perspective,

size, position on the page, and the use of

frames, they are better able to interpret

illustrators’ uses of these devices when

they encounter them in the artwork in

picture books (Moebius, 1986).

Although these principles and

conventions come into play as

illustrators work to craft the various

elements of stories including character,

there is not complete agreement on how

characters are revealed in picture books.

In their discussion of characterization,

Nikolajeva and Scott (2001) maintained

that the illustrations in picture books

lend themselves to developing external

facets of character such as appearance,

gender, and age, whereas internal

facets of character are more likely to

emerge through the author’s words.

Nonetheless, these scholars do concede

that some facets of inner character can

be revealed through illustrations by

means of character “poses, gestures,

and facial expressions [that] can disclose

emotions and attitudes” (p. 82).

Deliberate Attention to Visual PossibilitiesHowever, illustrations in picture books

may contribute far more to character

development than what Nikolajeva

and Scott (2001) suggested. In their

analysis of the development of literary

elements in picture books, Martinez

and Harmon (in press) found that

visual information in picture books for

younger children played a dominant role

in the development of character traits,

interests, and emotions. Moebius (1986)

and Nodelman (1988) also described

ways that illustrators convey meaning

about character, including through

the use of color and the positioning of

characters on the page.

Given the potential importance of

illustrations in character development,

young children reading (or listening to)

picture books must attend not only to

the words of stories, but also to visual

information if they are to understand

the characters they meet in picture

books. In his investigations of young

Pause and Ponder ■ Do I value and attend to illustrations as

much as the written text during picture

book read-alouds?

■ How can we make sure children become

aware of the devices illustrators use to

develop characters in picture books?

■ Why is it important to understand

illustrators’ contributions in the

development of characters in picture

books?

“Readers must thoughtfully attend to both sign

systems—the visual as well as the verbal—to

deeply understand the characters.”



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children’s meaning making during

storytime, Sipe (Sipe, 2008a; Sipe &

Brightman, 2005; Sipe & Ghiso, 2005)

found that his subjects did work to

understand the feelings, thoughts, and

motivations of the characters they met

in stories, and illustrations were a rich

source of information the children used

in making these character inferences.

Sipe also reported on some of the visual

conventions the children relied on as

they worked to understand characters,

including the use of color to convey

emotion and line to convey character

movement.

However, illustrators use a variety

of devices to bring their characters

to life, and given the importance of

picture book illustrations in developing

characters, we wanted to gain greater

insight into the kinds of visual

information that young children draw

on in their attempts to understand

characters. Therefore, we undertook

an investigation in a second-grade

classroom to address the following

question: What kinds of pictorial

information do young children use to

gain insights into the characters they

meet in picture books?

What We DidThe second-grade classroom in

which we observed is located in an

elementary school in rural South Texas

that primarily serves white (49%) and

Hispanic (49%) students. There were 12

children, 4 boys and 8 girls, in the class

in which we conducted our study.

Because we wanted to know what

kinds of visual information children use

to understand characters, we selected

three picture books with particularly

rich characterization for the teacher

to read aloud to her students—When

Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really

Angry by Molly Bang (1999), Leonardo

the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

(2005), and Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by

Kevin Henkes (1996). Table 1 contains

summaries of the three books. The

classroom teacher indicated that she

had never read the three books to her

students.

For each of the three stories, we

selected three illustrations to use in

talking with the children. We chose

each illustration with an eye toward

ensuring that the children would have

the opportunity to talk about pictures in

which illustrators used a variety of visual

elements and conventions to develop

characters.

In Table 2, we describe the

illustrations the children were asked

to talk about and identify devices

used in each illustration that conveyed

information about the characters.

Because the pages in the books are

not numbered, we identify the pages

to which the children responded by

referring to openings, using Sipe’s (2008a)

definition of the term in which the “first

opening is the two pages where the text

of the book begins and the openings are

numbered after this” (p. 256).

Over the course of three weeks,

two of us (Lori and Angeli) visited the

second-grade classroom once a week

during story time. On each visit we

observed as the teacher read aloud and

talked with her students about one

of the stories. During story time the

teacher invited the students to sit on the

floor in front of her as she read.

The teacher ensured that each

student could see the illustrations in

the book, and she even asked students

to move closer when she thought they

might not be able to see the pictures.

When there were relatively few words

on a page, the teacher held up the book

as she read so the students could see

the illustrations. For pages with more

extended text, the teacher typically

would read and then hold up the book

so children could see the accompanying

illustration.

Story time was an interactive

experience in this second-grade

Table 1 Summaries of Books Used in the Study

Book Summary

When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang

When Sophie’s little sister takes away her toy, Sophie becomes really, really angry. In her anger, she runs outside and runs and runs. Gradually Sophie begins to notice the natural world around her and slowly starts to calm down. Finally Sophie, relaxed and happy, returns home to her welcoming family.

Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

More than anything, Leonardo longs to be a terrible monster. After much research, he selects Sam (the most scaredy-cat kid in the world) as his victim. When Leonardo sneaks up on Sam and “gives it all he has,” Sam begins to cry. Leonardo is delighted by his success—until Sam reveals the real reasons for his tears. Only then does Leonardo undergo a complete change of heart, deciding it is best to be a wonderful friend rather than a terrible monster.

Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

When Lilly brings her new purple plastic purse to school, her beloved teacher, Mr. Slinger, tells Lilly to wait until recess to show it to her classmates. Lilly can’t wait, and when she shares the purse at an inappropriate time, Mr. Slinger confiscates her treasure. Furious, Lilly slips a nasty drawing of her teacher into his book bag. At the end of the day when Mr. Slinger returns the purse, Lilly finds a kind note from Mr. Slinger inside. Filled with remorse, Lilly must find a way to make things right.




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Table 2 Book Openings Used in Interviews

Book Description of openingCharacter element(s) of note Pictorial device(s) used to develop character

Leonardo the Terrible Monster

Opening 1: Leonardo—the sole figure in the illustration—appears in the lower right-hand corner of the double-page spread sitting slumped over with a dejected expression.

Character feelings ■ Facial expression ■ Body stance ■ Positioning of character in lower corner of the

page


Opening 12 (right-hand page): Leonardo celebrates having successfully scared Sam by strutting away from Sam (who is on the opposite page) and doing an “arm tuck.” Leonardo is in the lower portion of the page but now appears in the middle of the page rather than in the corner.

Character feelings ■ Character actions ■ Facial expression


Opening 16: This double-page spread is completely filled with a close-up of Leonardo’s thoughtful-looking face.

Change in character’s thought/perspective

■ Zoom technique that reveals a close-up of Leonardo’s face

■ Facial expression

When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry

Opening 6: On the left side of the double-page spread appears an angry Sophie bent over in a “fighting stance.” Her body is outlined by a series of wavy red, orange, and purple lines. Sophie has an angry look on her face. On the right side of the spread, a highly stylized volcano is erupting. The “lava” spewing from the volcano is the word EXPLODE written in large, red letters. The background color is purple.

Character feelings ■ Use of strong colors (reds, orange, yellow, purple)

■ Use of lines surrounding Sophie that mirror her stance

■ Character stance ■ Facial expression ■ Use of a symbol (volcano)

When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry…

Opening 12: In this double-page spread, Sophie appears as a small figure sitting on the limb of a huge tree, looking toward a body of water. The tree covers most of the left page. The water is a dark shade of blue, and the sky is an even darker shade of blue. The grass is a bright yellow-green. The line outlining Sophie’s body is now orange.

Change in character’s feelings

■ Use of cool colors (blues, green, white) ■ Change of the color outlining Sophie ■ Character stance

When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry…

Opening 15: On the left side of the double-page spread, a smiling Sophie stands at the door with outstretched hands. A yellow line surrounds her body. Next to Sophie are the words “I’m home!” that are also outlined in yellow. On the right side of the spread, Sophie’s smiling mother reaches out her arms toward Sophie. Her sister works on a jigsaw puzzle, as her father reads. The room is filled with cheery colors.


■ Use of bright colors (oranges, reds, yellow, blue, and green)

■ The change of the color outlining Sophie ■ Character’s stance

Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse

Opening 7: On the right-hand page of this opening, Henkes uses a series of panels to illustrate Lillly’s feelings and thoughts. On the top of the page appear three panels picturing Lilly looking first dejected and then annoyed.

Two rows, each composed of three panels, appear at the bottom of the page. The first panel shows Lilly with her finger to her head appearing to think. In the second panel, Lilly is portrayed with huge eyes that are round, red spirals. Curly lines emanate from her body. The third panel shows Lilly with her left arm outstretched. An image of a light bulb (symbolizing an idea) is drawn next to her. In the next two panels, Lilly draws furiously, and in the final panel she looks gleefully at her paper.

Character feelings and thoughts and changes in feelings

■ Facial expressions ■ Character actions ■ Distinctive use of line (downward eyebrows,

spiral eyes, curly lines emanating from Lilly) to convey feelings

■ Use of a symbol (light bulb)



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classroom. The teacher typically began

each story session by talking a bit about

the issues in the story. For instance,

before reading the When Sophie Gets

Angry—Really, Really Angry, she asked

the students to think about what makes

them happy and to think about what it

feels like when they are angry.

During and after the storybook

reading, the teacher asked questions

and invited discussions about the book.

During the reading, the children were

often asked to make predictions about

what might happen next in the story.

The teacher also posed simple recall

questions and encouraged students

to make connections between the

experiences of story characters and their

own personal experiences. However,

little if any of the talk during the read-

alouds focused on characterization as

revealed through illustrations.

The first week we visited the class,

the teacher read aloud When Sophie Gets

Angry—Really, Really Angry; the second

week, she shared Leonardo the Terrible

Monster; and the third week, she read

aloud Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. As we

observed each read-aloud, we audio

recorded the talk and took notes so that

we could more fully describe the story

time interactions. Immediately after each

read-aloud, we talked with each student

individually in the school library.

During these interviews, we showed

each child the pre-selected illustrations

from the book one by one and asked,

“What do you see in the illustration?”

We typically followed up this initial

question by asking, “How do you

know?” or “What clues help you know

that?” Although we were interested

in gaining insight into the pictorial

information children used to understand

the story character, we never specifically

asked the children to talk about

character. We transcribed the audio

recordings of the interviews.

Student Insights Into CharacterEven though we did not ask the children

specifically about the characters in the

stories, this was the literary element all

the children chose to talk about as they

viewed the illustrations—illustrations

chosen because they featured main

characters prominently. The children

made a variety of inferences about

the characters, including inferences

about character feelings, thoughts, and

relationships, as well as inferences about

changes in characters’ feelings, thoughts,

and relationships.

As we looked closely at the

children’s responses to determine

the kinds of visual information they

used to make character inferences,

we found that they were particularly

attentive to pictorial story content,

such as character actions, facial

expressions, and body posture, and the

way in which characters related to one

another. Children also referred to some

of the elements of art in supporting

character inferences, in particular,

the illustrator’s use of color and line.

However, we found that the children

did not appear to be attuned to many

of the visual devices intentionally used

by illustrators. In many cases, they

typically did not talk about symbols,

Table 2 Book Openings Used in Interviews (Continued)

Book Description of openingCharacter element(s) of note Pictorial device(s) used to develop character


Opening 9 (left page of the opening): At the top of the page are two panels. In the first, Lilly—surrounded by musical notes—looks in her purse. In the second panel, she reads a note, and the musical notes appear “broken.” Her eyes are big and round. Four panels appear at the bottom of the page, each depicting Lilly. However, in each panel Lilly is drawn progressively smaller.


■ Facial expressions ■ Use of line (downward eyebrows, short lines

around Lilly’s face) to convey feelings ■ Use of a symbol (musical notes) ■ Change in character size across panels


Opening 15 (right page of the opening): Four panels each depict a smiling Lilly. The first two panels show her running; the third panel shows her jumping, and the final panel shows Lilly leaping out of the panel (i.e., breaking the frame) with the tip of her right foot not even in the picture.


■ Facial expression ■ Character actions ■ Breaking the frame

“The children did not appear to be

attuned to many of the visual devices

intentionally used by illustrators.”




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position of characters, and other visual

content that clearly conveyed important

information about characters.

In the following section, we

share excerpts from the interview

transcripts that reveal the kinds of

visual information the children drew

on in supporting their inferences

about the characters they met in the

three books.

Pictorial ContentThe second graders we interviewed were

all attuned to three types of pictorial

content that revealed significant

information about characters—facial

expressions, body postures, and

characters’ actions.

Facial Expressions. In the book When


Angry, the facial expressions of the

main character conveyed important

information about Sophie’s (the

main character) feelings. Like most

of the children, Emily (all names are

pseudonyms) talked about the way

in which the illustrator drew Sophie’s

eyes, mouth, and eyebrows in opening

6 (see Table 2 for descriptions of

openings) of the story and understood

what this revealed about the character:

Interviewer (Lori): Tell me about this

picture. What do

you see happening?

Emily: It shows her about

to explode because

she’s really mad.

Because her eyes

look mad and her

face isn’t smiling.

Interviewer (Lori): What is her face

showing?

Emily: Madness.

Interviewer (Lori): How is it showing

madness?

Emily: Her mouth isn’t

smiling, it’s just

straight and her

eyebrows are going

down.

Action. The children also discussed

ways in which a character’s actions

yielded insights into the character. For

example, in Leonardo the Terrible Monster,

Emma, in discussing opening 12,

supported her inference about Leonardo

by referring to the actions of the

character that were revealed pictorially:

Interviewer (Lori): What’s happening

in this picture now?

Emma: He’s [Leonardo]

happy because he

scared a little boy

and made him cry.

Interviewer (Lori): Yes? How do you

know that? How

does the picture give

you clues?

Emma: Cause he is going

like this! [Emma

demonstrates

pulling her arm

in, doing the same

“arm tuck” done by

Leonardo.]

Interviewer (Lori): Can you describe

that?

Emma: Going like. Yes, I

can do it!

Interviewer (Lori): It does? But how is

he doing it? He is

holding his hand

how?

Emma: In a fist and going

like this. [Emma

demonstrates the

action again.]

Symbol. Two of the illustrations

we used contained symbols that

revealed information about characters

(see Table 2). Although some of the

children talked about these symbols,

most did not. In opening 6 of When


Angry, author and illustrator Molly

Bang described Sophie as “a volcano

ready to explode” and included an



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actual volcano in the illustration

with the word explode serving as the

lava emerging from the volcano. A

few of the children, including Caren,

talked about the meaning behind this

symbol:

Interviewer (Lori): What do you see in

that picture?

Caren: She’s getting really,

really angry in this

picture.

Interviewer (Lori): How do you know?

Caren: Because there’s a

volcano over here

and there’s an

explosion.

Interviewer (Lori): And what does that

mean to you?

Caren: It means that she’s

really, really, really

angry!

Interviewer (Lori): So when you see a

volcano you think

about….

Caren: Something getting

angry and blowing

up.

Although most of the children did not

appear to understand the significance

of these symbols, we believe it is telling

that some children used them to better

understand story characters.

Pictorial DevicesIn justifying their inferences about

characters, most students drew on their

understanding of two art elements—

color and line.

Color. In talking about When Sophie

Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry,

almost all the children talked about

the illustrator’s use of color to convey

information about the main character’s

feelings, in particular, associating the

use of red with Sophie’s feelings of

anger. Many also talked about how

changes in color signaled change in the

character’s feelings. They stated that the

color red meant Sophie was angry, but

orange meant she was calming down. In

responding to opening 7, Aaron talked

about this change in color:

Interviewer (Lori): Can you tell me

what is happening

in this picture?

Aaron: This is where she

is getting all her

madness out and

she sits there and

is alone and where

she kind of like talks

to herself and tells

herself to calm down

because nobody

deserves that.

Interviewer (Lori): You said that here

she is calming

down. Is there

any clue that tells

you she is calming

down?

Aaron: Cause it use to be

red around her and

now it’s turning

orange. She calmed

down and came

back home.

Although color was not a major device

used to convey character information

in Leonardo the Terrible Monster, one

student did pick up on a subtle use

of color when he observed that the

background color of the page was “even

darker purple” when the character was

feeling sadder.

Line. Most of the children talked about

illustrators’ use of line to communicate

information about characters. In dis-

cussing the seventh opening of Lilly’s

Purple Plastic Purse, which depicts an

angry Lilly in one panel with swirling

round lines for eyes, Aston had this to

say about Lilly’s eyes:

Aston: They’re red and they

look mad.

Interviewer (Lori): What else told you

that she’s mad?

Aston: The swirly things.

Although the children justified many

of their character inferences by pointing

out illustrators’ use of color and line,

there were three important pictorial

devices that contributed information

about characters that most children

did not talk about—the illustrator’s

manipulation of size, the position of

characters within the illustration, and

the breaking of frames that surrounded

“In justifying their inferences about characters,

most students drew on their understanding

of two art elements—color and line.”

“Many [children]

talked about how

changes in color

signaled change in the

character’s feelings.”




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illustrations. Nonetheless, as the

following examples show, a few of the

children appeared to understand these

devices.

Size. In opening 16 of Leonardo the

Terrible Monster, Mo Willems completely

filled the double-page spread with a

close-up of Leonardo’s thoughtful-

looking face. Yet only JoAnn talked

about the significance of the size

of Leonardo’s face in revealing an

important change in character:


on this page?

JoAnn: He was making the

decision…that he

would be his friend.

And not scare

anybody anymore.

Interviewer (Lori): You said he was

making a decision,

what kind of

decision?

JoAnn: A big decision.

Interviewer (Lori): And what gives you

a clue that it’s a big

decision?

JoAnn: Because of how

they drew his face,

everything is big!

In opening 9 of Lilly’s Purple Plastic

Purse, Kevin Henkes also uses a

change in size to suggest an important

character change. In this opening,

Lilly is depicted in a series of four

panels, and in each panel Lilly is drawn

progressively smaller. In responding to

this opening, Dallas talked about this

change in size:


in this picture?

Dallas: She is getting

smaller and smaller

and smaller.

Interviewer (Lori): Do you think she

is really getting

smaller?

Dallas: That she is getting

sad.

Although JoAnn and Dallas appeared

to understand the significance of these

size changes, size may be a more subtle

artistic device, because few of the other

second graders made references to these

size changes.

Breaking the Frame. In opening 16 of

Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, Lilly is again

portrayed in a series of four panels, and

in the fourth panel, a joyful Lilly is seen

leaping out of the panel (i.e., breaking

the frame). Vickie was one of the few

children to talk about the significance of

this artistic device:

Interviewer (Lori): What is happening

there?

Vickie: She’s getting happy.

She’s smiling and

she’s skipping and

hopping.

Interviewer (Lori): How can you tell

she’s skipping and

hopping?

Vickie: Because those

lines make her

hop. [student

pointing to a dotted

line showing

the pathway of

the character’s

movement]

Interviewer (Lori): Anything else you

want to tell me?

Vickie: That she’s hopping

out of the picture.

Interviewer (Lori): And what does that

tell you?

Vickie: That she’s really

happy.

What We LearnedThe interview excerpts that we have

shared show examples of children

using visual information to better

understand the characters they meet

in stories. However, we also found

that the children were not attuned to

many types of visual clues embedded in

illustrations. This suggests that teachers

have important work to do in fostering

children’s visual literacy.

The second graders supported

their character inferences largely by

attending to the facial expressions,

body posture, and character actions

depicted in illustrations, as well as

their understandings of the ways that

illustrators use color and line to convey

character information. Yet the images

we shared with children contained other

important visual information that the

children either missed or did not talk

about.

For instance, in one of the

illustrations from Leonardo the Terrible

Monster, a dejected Leonardo is

positioned in the bottom corner of

the page. None of the children talked

about this use of positionality to convey

character information. Also, most of

the children did not make mention of

the symbols illustrators embedded in

illustrations or the use of the artistic

devices of changing the size of a

character and showing a character

“Teachers have

important work to do

in fostering children’s

visual literacy.”



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breaking the frame surrounding an

illustration.

We believe that our findings dovetail

with the work of others who have

explored children’s responses to picture

books and suggest that young children

are capable of using visual information

to understand characters (Sipe, 2008b;

Sipe & Brightman, 2005; Sipe & Ghiso,

2005). Children also appear to be aware

of the importance of visual information

in picture books. At the conclusion of

each interview, we asked each child

how the illustrations in picture books

helped them. Their responses showed

they valued images for the information

they provided about characters.

For example, Vera responded by

saying, “They help me think what’s

happening in the story because

the motions that they’re doing.”

Mike answered, “Cause they show

expression.” Aaron said, “It [pictures]

shows what he’s doing and his action,

how he’s feeling. They show his mouth

and sometimes they put tears by eyes

that show that he’s sad.” JoAnn said

that pictures “show if something is big

or little or the colors tell you something

too.” She went on to say, “When Sophie

got really really angry, it showed on the

body with colors.”

What Teachers Can DoTeachers have an important role in

enriching “their students’ aesthetic

appreciation and understanding of the

visual features of picture books” (Sipe,

2008b, p. 213). In fact, Sipe (2008a)

described teachers as the “enablers of

children’s meaning making from picture

books” (p. 386). Stepping into this

supportive role, with the aim of helping

children learn to use illustration clues

(as well as text clues) to understand

characters, requires that teachers

prepare for and carefully orchestrate

read-alouds.

Preparing for Read-AloudsSome teachers come to the read-aloud

with a background in art, but many

do not. For those with less knowledge

about art, a good first step is building

one’s own understanding of how

illustrators convey meaning about

characters. In Table 3, we list some

resources teachers can use in learning

more about the illustrator’s craft.

To explore visual characterization

with children also requires the careful

selection of picture books for the read

aloud. In Table 4, we include a listing

of character-rich picture books and

identify visual devices of note that

the illustrators of these books use in

developing character.

Once a book is selected, we

recommend that teachers carefully

prepare for the read-aloud. Eeds and

Peterson (1991) envisioned teachers

Table 3 Professional Resources Containing Information About Illustrator Craft Books

Books

Bang, M. (2000). Picture this: How picture books work. New York: Chronicle.

Frohardt, D.C. (1999). Teaching art with books kids love. Golden, CO: Fulcrum.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B.E., & Sipe, L. (2009). Literature and the child (7th ed.). Independence, KY: Wadsworth.

Kiefer, B.Z., & Tyson, C.A. (2010). Charlotte Huck’s children’s literature: A brief guide. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Temple, C.A., Martinez, M., & Yokota, J. (2010). Children’s books in children’s hands. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Website

Mazza Museum: International Art from Picture Books: www.findlay.edu/offices/resources/mazza/studenteducation/aboutschooltours/vocabulary.htm




204

stepping into the role of “curator”

(p. 119), or one who helps students

develop literary insights. Preparation

is the key to becoming a curator, and

perhaps the best preparation is simply

lingering over and reflecting on ways in

which both the visual and verbal texts

work to convey important information

about characters. Also, in viewing

the illustrations, teachers can ask

themselves questions about characters:

■ What colors are used? What

do they seem to say about the

characters?

■ Do the lines communicate meaning

about character emotions? How?

■ Where is the character placed on

the page? What might this say

about the character?

■ What is of note about the facial

expressions of the character?

■ What do the actions and body

posture of the character tell us?

These steps should help to ensure that

teachers will be prepared to guide

children in their explorations of the

images in picture books.

Orchestrating Read-AloudsPreparation for a read-aloud is an

important first step, but what happens

in the read-aloud is of paramount

importance. First, teachers must

ensure that all the children can see the

illustrations and that they have time to

linger over them. Just as we extended

invitations in our interviews to look

closely at illustrations, teachers too can

pose such invitations by asking, “What

do you see?” and “How do you know?”

Teachers can also ensure that

children have opportunities to talk

together, a strategy that is particularly

helpful to use with more complex

picture books (Pantaleo, 2002, 2004). As

children explore illustrations together,

Table 4 Picture Books With Strong Character Development Through Illustrations

Book title Artistic devices of note Pictorial content of note

Amazing Grace PositionSizeColor

ActionsFacial expressionCharacter relationshipsBody posture

Art and Max ColorLine

Body postureFacial expressionCharacter relationships

Chester LineColorPositionSizeBreaking the frame

ActionsFacial expressionCharacter relationships

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

PositionSizeColor—background, font, and the pigeon’s eyeBreaking the frameLine

Facial expressionBody posture

Hooway for Wodney Wat

Position in relation to other characters (different from position on page)Size of character clearly set apart from other charactersSize

Facial expressionBody posture

Knuffle Bunny Free Size (zoom in and zoom out) Facial expressionBody posture

Llama Llama Red Pajama

LinesColor (background color)Size

Facial expressionCharacter relationships

Mitchell’s License PositionLineColorSymbols

ActionsCharacter relationshipFacial expression

No, David! Position Facial expressionBody posture

Officer Buckle and Gloria

Breaking the frameLine

Facial expressionCharacter relationshipsBody postureActions

Olivia PositionColor

Body postureActions

Owen Perspective—(looking down on Owen) Facial expressionBody languageBehavior

Petunia SizeBreaking the frame

ActionsFacial expression

Scaredy Squirrel SizePosition

ActionsFacial expressionBody posture

The Boss Baby PositionLines

Facial expressionActionsSymbolsCharacter relationships



www.reading.org R T

205

they extend and refine one another’s

responses, which is just what happened

when Ms. McGlothlin’s students studied

the cover of A Beasty Story (Martin, 2002):

Jacob: I think it is going to

be about the four

mice and the ghost

because they look

scared. They look

happy right here but

the ghosts scared

them too much.

Sara: The mouse in the

middle is going

like this. [holding

her hands over her

mouth]

Ms. McGlothlin: Look at the mice real

close and see if they

are different.

Victor: Because one is like

this and the next

one is like that and

the next one is like

this [mimicking

the motions/facial

expressions of the

mice on the cover].

And they have happy

faces.

Sadie: But the last ones have

scared faces.

Not only do children benefit from

opportunities to explore illustrations

collaboratively, but also researchers have

found that when revisiting a familiar

picture book children’s insights into

illustrations (and the story) deepen even

further (Arizpe & Styles, 2003).

Finally, to help children learn more

about how illustrators communicate

character information, a teacher can

step into the role of curator during read-

aloud discussions and draw attention

to particular artistic devices illustrators

rely on to develop character (Maloch &

Duncan, 2006). For example, in sharing

Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, a teacher

might highlight the illustration of Lilly

“breaking the frame” by noting, “This

picture tells me how happy Lilly is! She

is so happy that she is jumping right out

of the picture!”

We began by talking about the

importance of character understanding

to literary meaning making. In picture

books, this means that readers must

be able to “read” both illustrations and

the text of stories. We believe that the

visual aspects of picture books have

never received the same attention as

written text. Therefore, it is only when

we take steps to ensure that children

understand the visual devices used

to convey character information that

children will be able to fully explore

the characters they meet in picture

books.

RE F ERENC ES

Agosto, D.E. (1999). One and inseparable: Interdependent storytelling in picture storybooks. Children’s Literature in Education, 30(4), 267–280. doi:10.1023/A:1022471922077

Arizpe, E., & Styles, M. (2003). Children reading pictures: Interpreting visual texts. New York: Routledge.

Cullinan, B.E., & Galda, L. (1998). Literature and the child (4th ed.). Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

Eeds, M., & Peterson, R. (1991). Teacher as curator: Learning to talk about literature. The Reading Teacher, 45(2), 118–126.

Emery, D.W. (1996). Helping readers comprehend stories from the characters’ perspectives. The Reading Teacher, 49(7), 534–541.

Golden J.M., & Guthrie, J.T. (1986). Convergence and divergence in reader response to literature. Reading Research Quarterly, 21(4), 408–421. doi:10.2307/747613

Kiefer, B.Z., & Tyson, C.A. (2010). Charlotte Huck’s children’s literature: A brief guide. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Lehr, S.S. (1991). The child’s developing sense of theme: Responses to literature. New York: Teachers College Press.

Lukens, R.J., & Cline, R.K.J. (1995). A critical handbook of literature for young adults. New York: Addison-Wesley.

Maloch, B., & Duncan, D. (2006, December). “Big loud voice: You have important thing to say”: The nature of students initiations

1. In preparing to read aloud a picture book,

think about the characters—what are they

like, how do they feel, how do they change?

How do the illustrations help in conveying this

information? Be prepared to guide children in

recognizing these different facets of character.

2. When reading aloud, invite the children to

talk about what they learn about the characters

from the words and from the images.

3. During reading, encourage children

to talk about the characters.

4. Become a curator and talk with the

children about particular ways (the children

may not have noticed) that illustrators

help readers understand characters.

TA K E AC T ION!

Table 4 Picture Books With Strong Character Development Through Illustrations (Continued)

Book title Artistic devices of note Pictorial content of note

The Odd Egg PositionSizeBreaking the frame

Character relationshipsBody postureActions

Too Many Tamales Size (of the faces)Position

ActionsFacial expressionCharacter relationships

Wemberly Worried LinesPosition

Body postureFacial expression

Where the Wild Things Are

PositionSizeColor

ActionsFacial expressionsCharacter relationships




206

during one teacher’s interactive read-alouds. Paper presented at the National Reading Conference, Miami, FL.

Martinez, M. & Harmon, J. (in press). Picture/text relationships: An investigation of literary elements in picturebooks. Literacy Research and Instruction.

Martinez, M., & Roser, N.L. (2005). Students’ developing understanding of character. In N.L. Roser, M. Martinez, J. Yokota, & S.F. O’Neal (Eds.), What a character! Character study as a gateway to literary understanding

(pp. 6–13). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Moebius, W. (1986). Introduction to picturebook codes. Word and Image, 2(2), 141–158.

Nikolajeva, M., & Scott, C. (2001). How picturebooks work. New York: Garland.

Nodelman, P. (1988). Words about pictures: The narrative art of children’s picture books. Athens: University of Georgia Press.

Pantaleo, S. (2002). Grade one students meet David Wiesner’s three pigs. Journal of Children’s Literature, 28(2), 72–84.

Pantaleo, S. (2004). Young children interpret the metafictive in Anthony Browne’s Voices in the Park. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 4(2), 211–233.

Schwarcz, J., & Schwarcz, C. (1991). The picture book comes of age. Chicago: American Library Association.

Sipe, L.R. (2008a). Storytime: Young children’s literary understanding in the classroom. New York: Teachers College Press.

Sipe, L.R. (2008b). Young children’s visual meaning making in response to picturebooks. In J. Flood, S.B. Heath, & D. Lapp (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching literacy through the communicative and visual arts (Vol. 2, pp. 381–391). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Sipe, L.R., & Brightman, A. (2005). Young children’s visual meaning-making during readalouds of picture storybooks. Fifty-fourth National Reading Conference yearbook (pp. 349–361). Chicago: National Reading Conference.

Sipe, L.R., & Ghiso, M.P. (2005). Looking closely at characters: How illustrations support children’s understandings of character through picturebook illustrations. In N. Roser & M. Martinez (Eds.), What a characters! Character study as a guide to literary meaning making in grades K-8 (pp. 134–153). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

LI T ER AT U RE C I T ED

Bang, M. (1999). When Sophie gets angry—really really angry. New York: Blue Sky.

Carroll, L. (1865). Alice’s adventures in wonderland. London, UK: Macmillan.

Dewdney, A. (2005). Llama llama red pajama. New York: Viking.

Durand, H. (2011). Mitchell’s license. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

Duvoisin, R. (2000). Petunia. New York: Knopf.

Falconer, I. (2000). Olivia. New York: Atheneum.

Frazee, M. (2010). The boss baby. New York: Beach Lane.

Gravett, E. (2009). The odd egg. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Henkes, K. (1993). Owen. New York: Greenwillow.

Henkes, K. (1996). Lilly’s purple plastic purse. New York: Greenwillow.

Henkes, K. (2010). Wemberly worried. New York: Greenwillow.

Hoffman, M. (1991). Amazing Grace. New York: Dial.

Lester, H. (2002). Hooray for Wodney Wat. New York: Sandpiper.

Martin, B. (2002). A beasty story. New York: Sandpiper.

Rathman, P. (1995). Officer Buckle and Gloria. New York: Putnam.

Sendak, M. (1963). Where the wild things are. New York: HarperCollins.

Shannon, D. (1998). No, David! New York: Blue Sky.

Soto, G. (1996). Too many tamales. New York: Puffin.

Watt, M. (2008). Scaredy squirrel. Toronto, ON, Canada: Kids Can Press.

Watt, M. (2009). Chester. Toronto, ON, Canada: Kids Can Press.

Wiesner, D. (2010). Art and Max. New York: Clarion.

Willems, M. (2003). Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus. New York: Hyperion.

Willems, M. (2005). Leonardo the terrible monster. New York: Hyperion.

Willems, M. (2010). Knuffle bunny free: An unexpected diversion. New York: Balzer & Bray.

ReadWriteThink.org Lesson Plan ■ “Using Picture Books to Teach Plot Development

and Conflict Resolution” by Lisa Storm Fink

IRA Books ■ Children’s Literature in the Reading Program: An

Invitation to Read (3rd ed.) edited by Deborah A.

Wooten and Bernice E. Cullinan ■ What Should I Read Aloud? A Guide to 200

Best-Selling Picture Books by Nancy A. Anderson

IRA Journal Articles ■ “Reading Pictures: Developing Visual Literacy

for Greater Comprehension” by Kathleen

Ellen O’Neil, The Reading Teacher, November

2011 ■ “‘Reading’ the Painting: Exploring Visual Literacy

in the Primary Grades” by T. Lee Williams, The

Reading Teacher, April 2007 ■ “Young Children and Radical Change

Characteristics in Picture Books” by

Sylvia Pantaleo, The Reading Teacher,

October 2004

MOR E TO E X PLOR E


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