Main Content

Schedule

Course Schedule

Lesson 1 - Course Introduction
Lesson 2 - Picturebooks Overview
Week 1
Timeframe:Week One
Note: Week One covers both Lesson 1 and Lesson 2.

Readings:

Textbooks

  • Lewis, Reading Contemporary Picture Books, Chapter 1 OR Salisbury and Styles’ Children’s Picturebooks:  The Art of Visual Storytelling, chapters 1, 2, 3.
  • Carle, 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo.
  • Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are.

E-Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Course Reserves link in your Course Navigation Menu.)

  • Schwarcz, J.H. & C. Schwarcz. "Visual Communication in Picture Books" in The Picture Book Comes of Age. Chicago: American Library Association, 1991. pp. 1-13.

Assignments:
  • Practice using the Word Drawing program.
  • Contribute to the following threaded discussions:
    • Introduce Yourself. 
    • Picturebooks Overview.

 

Lesson 3 - Close Looking - Part I
Timeframe:Week Two
Note: Week Two consists of Lessons 3, 4, and 5 that are all covered in the same week.
Readings:

Textbooks

  • Lewis, Reading Contemporary Picture Books, Chapter 3.
  • Doonan, Looking at Pictures in Picture Books, pp. 7-21.
  • Hutchins, Rosie's Walk.
  • Browne, A. The Tunnel. (Click on the title hyperlink to the left to access this reading.)

Course Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Library Resources link in your Course Navigation Menu.)

  • Arizpe, E. & Styles, M. "Letting the Story Out": Visual Encounters with Anthony Browne's "The Tunnel" in Children Reading Pictures: Interpreting Visual Texts. New York: RoutledgeFalmer, 2003. pp. 97-116.
  • Choose one of the following articles:
    • Moebius, W. "Introduction to Picturebook Codes," Word & Image 2:2 pp. 141-158.
    • Nodelman, P. "Decoding the Images: Illustration and Picture Books" in P. Hunt (ed.) Understanding Children's Literature. New York, NY: Routledge, 1999. pp. 69-80.
Assignments:
  • Write a Response Paper #1.
  • Contribute to the threaded discussion: Close Looking Part One.

 

Lesson 4 - Close Looking - Part II
Timeframe:Week Two
Note: Week Two consists of Lessons 3, 4, and 5 that are all covered in the same week.
Readings:

Textbooks

  • Doonan, Looking at Picture Books, pp. 22-47.
  • Kitamura, When Sheep Cannot Sleep. (We'll read this again in Lesson 7.)
Assignments:
  • Contribute to the threaded discussion: Close Looking Part Two.
  • Start to work on the Children's Literature Illustrator Project:
    • Sign up for the illustrator of your choice by the end of Lesson 4 

 

Lesson 5 - Design
Timeframe:Week Two
Note: Week Two consists of Lessons 3, 4, and 5 that are all covered in the same week.
Readings:

Textbooks

  • Bang, Picture This.
  • Lewis, Reading Contemporary Picture Books, Chapter 7.
Assignments:
  • Make a Scary Picture.
  • Write a Response Paper #2 for the Scary Picture drawing.
  • Contribute to the threaded discussion: Design.
  • Create your initial Children's Literature Illustrator Project page from the template (due on the end of Lesson 5)

 

Lesson 6 - Style
Timeframe:Week Three
Note: Week Three consists of Lessons 6, 7, and 8 that are all covered in the same week.
Readings:

Textbooks

  • Jarrell, Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs, illustrated by Nancy Eckholm Burkert.
  • Heins, Snow White, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.
  • French, Snow White in New York.
Assignments:
  • Make a Snow White comparison chart.
  • Contribute to the threaded discussion: Style.
  • Continue to work on the Illustrator project.

 

Lesson 7 - The Relationship between Words & Images
Timeframe:Week Three
Note: Week Three consists of Lessons 6, 7, and 8 that are all covered in the same week.
Readings:

Textbooks

  • Lewis, Reading Contemporary Picture Books, Chapters 2, 4, & 8    OR    Salisbury and Styles’ Children’s Picturebooks:  The Art of Visual Storytelling, chapters 4, 5, 6.
  • Kitamura, When Sheep Cannot Sleep.
  • Blackall (2018). Hello Lighthouse Little Brown Books.
Course Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Library Resources link in your Course Navigation Menu.)
  • Schwarcz, J. H. "Relationships between Text and Illustration" in Ways of the Illustrator: Visual Communication in Children's Literature. Chicago: American Library Association, 1982. pp. 9-22.
Assignments:
  • Contribute to threaded discussion: Image.
  • Continue to work on the Illustrator Project.

 

Lesson 8 - Picture Books for the Very Young
Timeframe:Week Three
Note: Week Three consists of Lessons 6, 7, and 8 that are all covered in the same week.
Readings:

Textbook

  • Eric Carle, Artist to Artist.

Other Readings

  • Marcus, L. S. Ways of Telling: Conversations on the Art of the Picture Book. New York, Dutton: 2002. Interview with Eric Carle, pp. 32-57.
  • Marcus, L. S. Ways of Telling: Conversations on the Art of the Picture Book. New York, Dutton: 2002. Interview with Helen Oxenbury, pp. 141-149.
Assignments:
  • Research an illustrator.
  • Contribute to the threaded discussion: Picturebooks for the Young.
  • Continue to work on the Illustrator Project.

 

Lesson 9 - Culture - Different Ways of Seeing - Part I
Timeframe:Week Four
Note: Week Four consists of Lessons 9 and 10 that are both covered in the same week.
Readings:

Course Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Library Resources link in your Course Navigation Menu.)

  • Connors and Allred (2020). Picturing Diversity: Why Readers Should Always Judge Books by Their Covers. Voices in the Middle, 28(1): 53-57.
  • Hall, S. ed. "The Work of Representation" (Chapter 1) in Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Ed. S. Hall. Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage, 1997. pp. 15-64.

Other Reading

  • Serafini, F., Kachorsky, D. & Aguilera, E. (2015) “Picturebooks 2.0: Transmedial Features Across Narrative Platforms.” Journal of Children’s Literature. 41(2): 16-24.
Assignments:
  • Contribute to the threaded discussion: Different Ways of Seeing.
  • Continue to work on the Illustrator Project.
  • Write a Response Paper #3.

 

Lesson 10 - Culture - Different Ways of Seeing - Part II
Timeframe:Week Four
Note: Week Four consists of Lessons 9 and 10 that are both covered in the same week.
Readings:

Textbooks

  • Collier, B. Uptown. New York, NY: Henry Holt, 2000. ISBN: 978-0805073997.
  • Soto, G. Chato and the Party Animals. Illustrated by Susan Guevarra. New York, NY: Penguin, 2004. ISBN: 978-0142400326.

Other Reading

  • Myers, W. D., & Meyers, C. (1997). Harlem: A poem. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN: 978-0590543408
Assignments:
  • Contribute to the threaded discussion: Uptown and Harlem.
  • Continue to work on the Illustrator Project.
    A substantial draft is due by the end of this lesson.
  • Mid-semester Feedback (ungraded)

 

Lesson 11 - Unconventional Illustrators
Timeframe:Week Five
Note: Week Five consists of Lessons 11, 12, and 13 that are all covered in the same week.
Readings:

Textbooks

  • Lewis, Reading Contemporary Picture Books, Chapters 5 & 6 OR Salisbury and Styles’ Children’s Picturebooks:  The Art of Visual Storytelling, chapters 6 & 7
  • Kalman, What Pete Ate from A-Z.
  • Scieszka, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.
  • Scieszka, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.
  • Burningham, Come Away From the Water, Shirley.
  • Santat, After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again.
Assignments:
  • Contribute to the threaded discussion: Unconventional Illustrators.
  • Continue to work on the Illustrator Project.

 

Lesson 12 - Graphic Novels and Comics
Timeframe:Week Five
Note: Week Five consists of Lessons 11, 12, and 13 that are all covered in the same week.
Readings:

Textbooks

  • Siegel, To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel.
  • Yang, G. L. American Born Chinese (Optional Reading).

Other Reading

  • Williams, R. (2008). Image, Text, and Story: Comics and Graphic Novels in the Classroom. Art Education, 61(6), 13-19.

Course Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Library Resources link in your Course Navigation Menu.)

  • McCloud, S. Making comics: Storytelling secrets of comics, manga and graphic novels. New York: Harper, 2006. Chapter 1: "Writing with pictures," pp. 8-57.
  • Gravett, P. Graphic Novels: Everything you need to know. New York: Harper, 2005. Ch. 1. "Things to hate about comics," pp. 6-11. Ch. 5. "The long shadow," pp. 56-71.

Choose one of the following readings:

  • Kress, G. Reading Images: Multimodality, Representation and New Media Information Design Journal. 12:2, pp. 110-119, 2004. -see link.
  • Mackey, M. & McClay, J. K. (2000) Graphic Routes to Electronic Literacy: polysemy and picture books. Changing English 7(2), pp.191-201. -see link.
  • Carter, J. B. Chapter One: "Carving a Niche: Graphic Novels in the English Language Arts Classroom," in Carter , J. (ed). Building Literacy Connections with Graphic Novels. National Council of Teachers of English, 2007. - Optional.
Assignments:
  • Contribute to the threaded discussion: Graphic Novels.
  • Continue to work on the Illustrator Project.

 

Lesson 13 - Pedagogy
Timeframe:Week Five
Note: Week Five consists of Lessons 11, 12, and 13 that are all covered in the same week.
Readings:

Textbook

  • Staake, B. (2013). Bluebird. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books. ISBN: 978-0375970382

Other Readings

  • Serafini, F. (2014). Exploring Wordless Picture Books. The Reading Teacher, 68(1), 24-26.
  • Callow, J. (2008). Show me: Principles for assessing students’ visual literacy. The Reading Teacher, 61(8), 616-626.
Course Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Library Resources link in your Course Navigation Menu.)
  • McNair, J. C., & Colabucci, L. (2007). "Let's Get Smart about Art": Developing Visual Literacy with Picture Books. Journal of Children's Literature, 33(1), 10-13. - [Optional]
Assignments:
  • Contribute to the threaded discussion: Wordless Picturebooks and Visual Literacy.
  • Continue to work on the Illustrator Project.
Lesson 14 - Early Readers and Picturebooks
Timeframe:Week Six
Note: Week Six consists of Lessons 14 and 15 that are both covered in the same week.
Readings:

Textbook

  • Cordell (2017). Wolf in the Snow. Feiwel and Friends.
  • Lobel, A. (1972). Frog and toad together. New York: Harper & Row.
  • Willems, M. (2010). We are in a book! (1st ed.). New York, N.Y: Hyperion.
  • Yenika, V. (2015).  A Day With Papa.  Tate Publishing.
Course Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Library Resources link in your Course Navigation Menu.)
  • Hade and Huddock (2016).  Redefining the Early Reader in an age of Multiliteracies:  Visual Language in Mo Willem’s Elephant and Piggie Series.  In Miskec and Wannamaker (Eds.) The Early Reader in Children’s Literature and Culture: Theorizing Books for Beginning Readers. New York: Routledge, pp. 88-99.
Assignments:
  • Contribute to the threaded discussion: Pedagogy, Digital Picturebook and Course Wrap Up.
  • Continue to work on the Illustrator Project.
Lesson 15 - Pedagogy, Digital Literacy, and Course Wrap Up
Timeframe:Week Six
Note: Week Six consists of Lessons 14 and 15 that are both covered in the same week.
Readings:

Textbook

  • Doonan, Looking at Pictures in Picture Books, pp. 48-71.

Other Readings

  • Yokota, J. & Teale, W. (2014).  Picture books and the digital world: Educators making informed choices. The Reading Teacher, 67(8), 577-85.
  • Select one of the following:
    • Crawley (2020). Peritext as the Windows, Mirrors, and Maps: LGB+ Representation in the Backmatter. Voices in the Middle, 28(2): 29-32.
    • Kiefer, B.,Envisioning Experience: The Potential of Picture Books (Source: Publishing Research Quarterly, Fall 1991, Volume 7, Issue 3.)
Course Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Library Resources link in your Course Navigation Menu.)
  • Sychterz, T. (2002) "Rethinking Childhood Innocence," The New Advocate. 15, pp. 183-196.
Assignments:
  • Contribute to the threaded discussion: Pedagogy, Digital Picturebooks, and Course Wrap Up.
  • Complete the Illustrator Project.

Top of page