Emergent Picture books Literacy Analysis

REVISED
Due: Week 4, 9-15-16
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Define/describe Emergent Picture books: books written for children
during their first stage towards literacy; convey a message through a
series of pictures with little text or none at all; young children often
believe the illustrations tell the story; tells a story through its art
List the following types/categories of Emergent Picture Books and provide
two examples of books (book title, author, and year published) for each:
1) Concept books - Picture books that present many examples of a
particular concept.
Alphabet books: often a young childs first introduction to
symbols; books should present letters in order and present
them in both upper and lower case; it will often have a 2-page
spread for each letter; sometimes the pages will be themed
(e.g. animals, dinosaurs, flowers); fosters letter-sound
correspondence and phonemic awareness
Dr. Seusss ABC By: Dr. Seuss (1963)
My First ABC Book By: Jane Bunting (1999)
Counting books: typically focuses on numbers 1-10; one to two
pages per number; some themed (e.g. dinosaur, food); some
have a storyline; should include numbers of things to be
counted, symbolic representation of bumbers (1, 2, 3), and
number words (one, two, three)
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed By:
Eileen Christelow
(1989)
One Hundred Hungry Ants By: Elinor Pinczes
Jr. (1993)
Colors: often include color words; primary, secondary, and
tertiary colors; combine color with other concepts, such as
flowers.
My Many Colored Days By: Dr. Seuss (1998)
My First Jumbo Book of Colors By: James Diaz and
Melanie Gerth (2002)
Animals: An Alphabet of Dinosaurs By: Peter Dodson (1995)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar By: Eric Carle (1981)
Plants: Over the Meadow By: Paul Galdone (1986)
Eating the Alphabet: Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z
By: Peter Dodson
(1989)

2) Pattern books - Picture books that have repetitive words, phrases,

questions, or other structures that makes them predictable; foster
speech-to-print match, concepts of print; helpful with initial reading
instruction, limited vocabulary; illustrations reinforce text
Mr. Seahorse By: Eric Carle (2004)
Thump, Thump, Rat-a-Tat-Tat By: Gene Baer (2000)
3) Wordless picture books story is revealed through series of
illustrations; a format used in a variety of genres; aids in the
development of visual literacy; can be enjoyed by children who do
not read well; a stimulus for language experience; helps develop
imagination.
Silent Night By: Sandy Turner (2001)
Four Hungry Kittens By: Emily Arnold McCally (2001)
Describe how Emergent Picture Books can be used to teach the following
(see Andersons chapter 4, pp. 72-73) and how you would use these books
with young children:
Concept of word
Speech-to-print match
Concepts of print
Sight vocabulary
There are two different methods to teaching these concepts. One way to
teach these concepts is through lap reading. Lap reading is just like it
sounds, a child sitting in an adults lap reading. While a child is sitting in an
adults lap, the adult can talk about or point to things in the text or
illustrations. During this time, you should encourage children to focus on
the printed words and join in on parts they recognize or remember. To work
on the concept of word, pointing under each word as the child says it. This
helps because this teaches children that a written word is a string of letters
bound by spaces. When children can match spoken word to what is written,
they have made the discovery of speech-to print matching and will begin
to learn sight words. The other method to teaching these concepts are big
books. Big books are books that are enlarged to almost 4 times the size of
the normal book. This tool primarily teaches concepts of print, which is the
conventions that a page is read from top to bottom, lines are read from left
to right, and books are read front to back (this is different across cultures).
Emergent Picture Book using the following guidelines and criteria:
Name of book, author (include first and last name of author), and year
published:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar By: Eric Carle (1981)

Type/category of Emergent Picture Books: Animal Concept Book
Age range book is intended: 2 years old to 4 years old
Brief description or synopsis of book: (write a paragraph)
On a Sunday morning, a green red-faced caterpillar hatches from an egg,
and begins to look for food. He eats through many different fruits, one
piece on the first, two on the second, three on the third, and so on for five
days. After he eats through the fruit, he begins to try a wider variety of
food. Soon, the caterpillar eats too much food and gets a stomach-ache.
After recovering from a stomach-ache, he spins a cocoon that he stays in
for the two weeks. After the two weeks, the big fat caterpillar emerges as a
butterfly with large multi-colored wings.
Book awards received, if any: American Institute of Graphic Arts Award
(1970),
New York Times Ten Best Picture Books of the Year (1969) and, Best
Children's Books of England (1970)
Discuss how the books features could engage readers to promote
literacy growth:
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is filled with many bright colors and
illustrations that will help the reader make inferences about what is going
on. The words are in large print and have many connections with the
illustrations to help children match sight words with pictures. The book also
follows a pattern which will help the children follow along during lap
reading.
Discuss format and page layout: The book comes in hardback and
paperback. The pages are large and are similar to cardstock so they do not
rip as easily. The book has a hard spine which will withhold the grasp of
children. The words are scattered around the illustrations on the pages.
Content: This story teaches metamorphosis. I think for appealing to such
a young age that this story does a great job of explaining how
metamorphosis happens. The illustrations give life to what a young
caterpillar goes through during its life cycle.
Describe characters: The caterpillar is very hungry and tries to fulfill his
hunger but becomes obsessed with eating and gives himself a stomach
ache. The caterpillar goes through the life cycle rather systematically.
Illustrations/Style & Color: The illustrations remind me of a collage. The
book is filled with vibrant colors that jump at you. The illustrations tell the
story to the point that I sometimes forget there are words on the page.
Carle does a great job tell the story in a lively, upbeat way. You would
never know that this book was made for the purpose of explaining

metamorphosis. The color also helps child learn what different things are
different colors.
Describe how you would you use this book in a classroom to
promote literacy learning? I would love to have this book in a Big Book
format. I would love to read this book aloud multiple times in a week to
help my students recognize sight words, learn concepts of print, and nail
down their speech-to-print matching skills.
Include picture of book cover:

Hyperlink: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_2_12?url=searchalias%3Dstripbooks&fieldkeywords=the+very+hungry+caterpillar&sprefix=the+very+hun%2Caps
%2C474
Rate book on a scale of 0 to 5: I would give this book a 5. Eric Carle is a
well-established author who has gained a lot of credibility in his field. The
book has great fluidity and is also very entertaining for its audience. The
book helps build the four concepts of literacy learning for the emergent
stages. The words and illustrations complement each other to tell a story of
a young caterpillar. The explanation of metamorphosis is very age-

appropriate and accurate. I would recommend this book to all elementary

teachers.
References:
Anderson. (2006). Early Childhood Books. In Anderson (Author), Elementary children's
literature, the basics for teachers and parents (2nd ed., pp. 60-79). Boston, MA: Pearson
Education.
Bunting, J. (1999). My first ABC board book. New York, NY: DK Publishing.
Carle, E. (1987). The very hungry caterpillar. New York,NY: Philomel Books.
Christelow, E. (1989). Five little monkeys jumping on the bed. New York, NY: Clarion Books.
Dodson, P., & Barlowe, W. D. (1995). An alphabet of dinosaurs. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Ehlert, L. (1996). Eating the Alphabet: Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z. Boston, MA: HMH
Books for Young Readers.
Galdone, P. (1986). Over in the meadow: An old nursery counting rhyme. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Kiefer, B. Z., & Tyson, C. A. (2014). Charlotte Huck's children's literature: A brief guide (2nd
ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Pinczes, E. J., & MacKain, B. (1993). One hundred hungry ants. Boston, MA: Houghton
Mifflin.
Seuss, D. (1963). Dr. Seuss's ABC. New York, NY: Random House Childrens Books.
Seuss, D., Johnson, S., & Fancher, L. (1996). My many colored days. New York, NY: Knopf.

Rubric follows
Rubric for Picturebook Literacy Analysis
2.5

The student defined/described picturebooks and listed four genres

(specified above) that used a picturebook format. The student also
provided two examples of books that fit under each genre listed after
the student read and analyzed these texts using Hucks Guidelines, p.
82. Further, the student analyzed one picturebook in depth, discussed
the books features, how it could engage readers to foster literacy

growth, critiqued its format, illustrations, described potential uses for

the book in the classroom, included hyperlink/s to a book talk, video,
and/or other book analysis/critiques for the book (if available), rated
the book according to specific criteria listed for this assignment, and
provided a reference page using APA format for all books listed in the
assignment. All directions for the assignment have been followed and
important details were included in order to present a clear
understanding of picturebooks in the students analysis. The paper is
organized with no spelling or punctuation errors.
2.0

The student has met most of the criteria described above. However,
the student is missing minor pieces of information and did not follow
one of the directions.

1.5 1.0

The student has met most of the criteria described above. However,
the students is missing several pieces of information and did not follow
two or more of the directions.

The students assignment was missing significant criteria described

above, was incomplete, and did not meet the objective.