ENGLISH 470

Topics in Children's Literature: Children's Visual Culture from Picture Books to New Media

“If people aren’t taught the language of sound and images, shouldn’t they be considered as illiterate as if they left college with out being able to read or write?

George Lucas

“Visual literacy is the ability to see, to understand, and ultimately to think, create, and communicate graphically.

The visually literate viewer looks at an image carefully, critically, and with an eye for the intentions of the image’s creator. …

“Those skills can be applied equally to any type of image: photographs, paintings and drawings, graphic art (including everything from political cartoons to comic books to illustrations in children’s books), films, maps, and various kinds of charts and graphs. …

“All convey information and ideas, and visual literacy allows the viewer to gather the information and ideas contained in an image, place them in context, and determine whether they are valid.”

--Melissa Thibault and David Walbert“Reading images: an introduction to visual literacy”

Visual elements in classrooms --

The not too distant past

Visual elements in classrooms:

The present

“What’s important is that kids understand the technologies that surround them, especially as our telephone, our television, and our computer race to become one entity. That way, new technology can become the useful tool of the child, instead of the child becoming the useful tool of technology.” --Linda Ellerbee journalist and producer

Why is visual literacy so important?

Digital Millennials» 14-24 years old

» Digital lifestyle focus» 10 hours online/week

» 30 min mobile phone/day

» 6-10 text/IM day

» Social networking

» Distribution of age, race, gender, spending and geography

Source: Resource Interactive

24-hour Media Consumpation

Q: What did you do yesterday?Age Group: 15-21 year olds

Harris Interactive, 2007

What are some types of visual cultures we will consider in this course?

Alphabet books

Books into

Books into film

Films for children, teens & tweens

Graphic novels

Pop up books

Visual elements in children’s books

Television programs

Websites for children, tweens & teens

Websites for children, tweens & teens

Digital media for children, tweens & teens

“I know only one thing about the technologies that await us in the future: We will find ways to tell stories with them”

Jason Ohler

HTH UC :-O,

IMO, II make U

H-)! Texting lingo—and here’s the translation: “Hope this helps you see that basic language, in my opinion, can make you crosseyed.”

ENGLISH 470

Topics in Children's Literature: Children's Visual Culture from Picture Books to New Media

Resources

Jakes, David. “Capturing Stories, Capturing Lives: The Power of Digital Storytelling.” PowerPoint program. 2007.Reid, Jessica. “The Digital Millenials: R U Ready?” Resource Interactive. PowerPoint program.Riddle, Johanna. “Engaging the Eye Generation: Traditional, Informational, & Visual Literacy Strategies.” PowerPoint program.Thibault ,Melissa and David Walbert. “Reading images: an introduction to visual literacy.” Learn NC. http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/675. 2003.