644636

research-article2016
GCTXXX10.1177/1076217516644636Gifted Child TodayGifted Child Today

vol. 39  ■  no. 3 GIFTED CHILD TODAY

Feature

Intellectual Pursuits of Young Children Through

Picture Book Literacy, Focusing on Italian Preschools
Laura Beltchenko1

Abstract: In this article, I will examine the use of picture
books as a means of supporting the intellectual pursuits of
young children. Theoretical frameworks will be discussed
as they pertain to the integration of these books in the
Municipal Infant Toddler Centers and Preschools of Reggio
Emilia and Pistoia, Italy. The pedagogical framework
of these schools will be discussed depicting how the
sociocultural and the constructivist
P
icture book composition is complex, developed with
specificity, and created with an interplay between
pictures and words. Picture books have an intentional
design with little text that is not carefully planned. Each dot,
dash, letter, and stance of a character is detailed, and each
artistic illustration carries meaning. This type of genre is more
than just pictures illustrating text. Picture books send a
message with intent and purpose, and

“
theories are evident and developed often focus on an intended audience.
through the careful guidance
provided through the triangulation
Immersing Pictures and illustrations help
students construct and build
of school personnel, community, children in knowledge. They build upon schema.
and the home. This triangulation Through interpretation of the visual
places the child at the center of their meaningful books and images, a child can invoke schema that
own learning through investigations, enhances understanding of the text.
inquiry, and curiosity. A focus will literary experiences Serafini (2014) suggests, “Wordless
be on the use of picture books in the
Italian school culture and how the
at an early age, in the picture books may be the best platform
for introducing many narrative
artistic genre of these books plays an home, and continuing conventions, reading processes and
important role in the transference of visual strategies to readers of all ages”
ideas and subliminal but important this practice in (p. 26). This would hold true as well
messages of literacy. through the lens of diverse learners
schools and classrooms where words are not the focal point
Keywords: picture books, Reggio may be dependent on but the pictures tell a story. It is
through picture books that children
approach, intellectual pursuits, gifted
education, early childhood culture and become immersed in storytelling,
investigate their wondering, and see the
A picture book is text, illustrations,
socioeconomic status.” world beyond the limits of their
immediate surroundings. Children and
total design; . . . a social, cultural,
adults from all corners of the earth reap
historic document; and foremost, an experience for a
the messages picture books send in a fictional, informational, or
child. As an art form it hinges on the interdependence of
nonfiction format. How then do young children of Italy, in
pictures and words, on the simultaneous display of two
particular, the Municipal Infant Toddler Centers and Preschools
facing pages, and on the drama of the turning of the
of Reggio Emilia and Pistoia, integrate and create a culture of
page. On its own terms its possibilities are limitless.
picture book usage into the pedagogical framework of their
—Bader (1976, p. 1) schools?

DOI: 10.1177/1076217516644636. From 1National Louis University. Address correspondence to: Laura Beltchenko, 930 Crestfield, Libertyville, IL60048, USA; email: lbeltchenko@gmail.com.
For reprints and permissions queries, please visit SAGE’s Web site at http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav.
Copyright © 2016 The Author(s)

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 GIFTED CHILD TODAY
Theoretical Thinking
Through the constructs of the Reggio approach-inspired
pedagogy and curricular design, as well as nurturing and
responsive teaching, young children are guided and supported,
and make sense of what the world has to offer. This approach is
metacognitive in its framework and is founded, as well as
accomplished, through researched theoretical frameworks and
philosophical beliefs.
Communication skills, language acquisition, and deciphering
print are goals parents and teachers have for children. An
overarching outcome is to make meaning out of what is spoken,
heard, and/or read in a specific context or environment. Theorist
and psychologist, Lev Vygotsky (in Gauvain & Cole, 2008),
embraced a social, cultural, and environmental view of child
development. Vygotsky felt that “. . . children grow into the
intellectual life around them” (p. 30). Thus, immersing children
in meaningful books and literary experiences at an early age, in
the home, and continuing this practice in schools and
classrooms may be dependent on culture and socioeconomic
status. They may also be dependent on the value attached to
intellectual pursuits of acquiring knowledge and literacy.
Vygotsky’s theory suggests that learning development is what a
child could do without help or what could be accomplished
with assistance. Using my lens as an American educator, how
does this sociocultural theory transcend into the philosophical
framework of other countries and what roles do picture books
play in the child’s overall intellectual development?
I recently had the opportunity to be part of an educational
cadre invited to visit the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre in
Reggio Emilia, Italy. At the center, we learned of the
pedagogical choices as well as the political, cultural, and ethical
choices that created the foundations of the Reggio approach.
My personal interest was to learn how young children in this
approach satisfy their natural curiosities, process information,
and interact with peers and adults. I was also interested in what
role picture books play in their emerging literacy development
and how this educational framework recognized the range of
learners including those who may function above and beyond
their age peers. Through the visits of three Reggio Infant
Toddler and Preschools and six similar Pistoia, Italy schools, I
was able to concretely observe teachers and students
interacting, in a child-centered and focused environment. In this
environment, there is evidence of meticulous arrangement and
intentional design of materials (including books), child size
space, and décor representative of the pride in student work, as
well as the appreciation of nature and its beauty.
Foundations: Loris Malaguzzi
Reggio Emilia is located in Northern Italy between Para and
Bologna, while Pistoia, also in the North, is in the Tuscany
region. Both municipalities boast a system of educational
experiences that cultivate family and community relationships.
The triangulation of the school, family/cultural heritage, and
community places the child at the center creating favorable
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July 2016
Figure 1.  Depicts the child at the center of the
educational structure of the Reggio approach.
conditions for learning and social emotional tranquility. This is
depicted in Figure 1. Children’s natural curiosity is valued as
they develop their connections to the world.
There is a long history of child-centered, early childhood
education in the Italian schools. One that is prominently known is
the Reggio Emilia approach, named after its founding city and the
work of its founding father, Loris Malaguzzi. His framework is
studied and replicated in Italy and all over the world, much like
we embrace the ideologies of Vygotsky, Piaget, Bruner, and
Gardner. In her 2013 book, The Life and Times of Loris Malaguzzi,
Smidt (2013) writes, “For Malaguzzi . . . learning does not move in
a logical, sequenced fashion but through starts and stops, jumps,
leaps and retreats” (p. 18) and “the journey of education is not to
acquire a body of knowledge but rather to question, consider and
challenge the boundary between the mundane . . . and often the
trivial requirement of schooling” (p. 55). Thus, according to
Malaguzzi, stringent and rigid curriculum is not in the best interest
of the young child, especially for a young child who has the
potential to think and perform above his or her age peers.
A philosophical aspect within the Reggio approach is the
influence of the ways of knowing, discovering, and learning as
described in The Hundred Languages of Children (Edwards,
Gandini, & Forman, 2012). The title refers to a translated poem by
Malaguzzi who declares that there are one hundred many ways
for children to express understanding and learning. The focus of
children birth to 6 years of age is to explore and express
understanding through
•• thinking,
•• listening,
•• using their bodies,
•• exploring graphics,
•• and images they create based on what they see and
experience.
vol. 39  ■  no. 3 GIFTED CHILD TODAY

This is accomplished through the use of a wide range of

materials and books that simulate and bring their investigations
to tangible ways of expression. Malaguzzi’s interests were thus
founded in a “collection of schools that supported a child’s
intellectual, emotional, social and moral potential . . . engrossing
projects, carried out in a beautiful, healthy, love filled setting”
(Edwards, Gandini, & Forman, 2012, p. 61).

Pedagogista and Atelierista

Using nature as one of its teaching tools, drawing, sculpting,
painting, collage, light, movement, and oral communication
become additional materials that guide young children to
understand their world. Children are encouraged to explore
their environment using the previously mentioned materials
with support from teachers and the pedagogista or coordinator,
who oversees the intellectual pursuits and thematic pedagogy. It
is here that informational as well as picture books may be
found on shelves, tables, and other areas of the school. They
are there as a reference for the children, as well as for the
teachers to engage the children with read-aloud story time.
The resident art instructor or atelierista is another important
member of a school faculty. He or she provides numerous
modeled ways a child may creatively represent and rerepresent Figure 2.  Using blocks and recycled materials, children
their ideas, curiosities, and wonderings. The atelierista supports create environments for developing a sense of pattern,
well-organized and colorized materials, many of which are space, open and closed boundaries.
recycled objects (bits of cloth, string, tubes, paper, wood, etc.) Note. This is possible through the organizational structures and
or articles of nature from around the school. Also of benefit to materials organized by the atelierista.
the children is a collection of drawing and painting implements
of all types, color paper and tissue, as well as paint and pencils
in a rainbow of colors. Figure 2 shows an example of the use of
the students’ learning. They also note progression as children
multiple types of materials to allow children to experience the
acquire new knowledge and reflect on the instruction and use
qualities of shape, size, and physical attributes of objects for
of materials. These “documentations” of child learning are often
building and constructing.
prompted by the following questions that are representative of
The teachers, in collaboration with the pedagogista and
those posted in Loris Malaguzzi International Center:
atelierista, are there to scaffold the experiences and observe the
children’s discoveries, interactions with book, materials, and
•• Are the children’s drawing experiences accompanied by
collaborative conversations and interactions with classmates.
words? How are words and drawings interwoven?
These young learning apprentices hypothesize, explore
•• Do the children talk about what they are doing while
materials, question, observe, and engage in conversations with
they are drawing or engaged in some type of activity? In
teachers and their fellow classmates. These activities are then
what way? (Is the correspondence with words, mimicry,
carried on to home for continued thinking and clarification. It is
tone of voice gestures, etc.?)
their discoveries and curiosities that lead children to explore
•• How can we describe and create the words that emerge
and eventually understand a core belief of the Reggio system.
with the drawings or materials created by the child? (Are
The young Italian children learn with each other, question one
they descriptive, metaphorical, illusive, ironic, etc.?)
another, and often guide each other through collaboration and
•• What materials and references did the child use to
cooperation in a purposeful, productive, and thoughtful manner.
represent their thinking, knowledge transfer, and product
Parents and grandparents support these methodologies as many
of learning?
of them have been through the Reggio approach themselves, a
result of Malaguzzi intellectual legacy that dates back to
Through documentation, teachers record students’ inquiries
post-World War II.
and understandings of the constructs they are creating. The
documentation process involves listening, annotating, and
The Documentation Process capturing pivotal moments in a child’s learning through
In the Reggio approach, teachers observe and document anecdotal records, tape recording of conversations, or digitally.
young children’s progress and curiosities to bridge and extend With the onset of technology, digital pictures and video may

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record the child’s progress in making connections to a given

topic through their drawings, scribbles, or replication of a
pattern, or picture in a book. Documentation serves as what we
might call in American schools anecdotal records. They are not
however to sift children into categoricals, but in fact to
recognize the direction of the investigation or what alternative
materials are needed to fulfill the children’s curiosity and
wonder.
An example of this documentation is provided in Figure 3.
These 4-year-old boys are drawing a representation of the
patterns they created and constructed from objects of nature,
including seed pods, dried flowers, branches, leaves, and so on.
These were collected from the fields and landscapes around the
school, home, and community. The pedagogista pointed out
while children observed how the blowing wind created patterns
of objects in a small space in the courtyard of their school. The
atelierista then had the children gather materials to create a
pattern of their own. In Figure 3, the important notable
documentations are the observations of boys as they engage in
active conversations as well as the drawings that transferred
tactile patterns of the raw materials to representations on paper.
Because most observations are of groups of children,
documentation may represent a collection of children’s ideas,
drawings, and choice of media as well as interactions and body
movements. It is at this point that the teachers may observe a
student who has difficulty in the group and the teacher may
redirect. Unlike our American educational structures, the formal
identification of learning disabilities or gifted education does
not prevail in the Reggio documentation process. Teachers
differentiate through redirection of a task that will support their
need for further time to develop or to accelerate. Likewise,
formal pre/posttest and educational screening protocols,
common in America, are not evident in the Reggio framework.
The abilities of the teachers, pedagogista, and atelierista to
differentiate for the students’ needs are evident through the
adjustments to the learning events for all cognitive and affective
abilities, including those that are progressing above their age
peers. Many of the documentation process digital pictures taken
of the children’s learning are widely displayed in the school as
well as in the community. This documentation bridges the
philosophy of the Reggio and Pistoia pedagogical philosophy. It
allows for continual honing of teaching methods that address
students’ differentiated learning needs. One area that remains
vague in these municipal schools is how this documentation
follows the child to their respective community schools where
primary education continues.
Pistoia and Picture Books
While visiting one of the Pistoia preschools, we were made
aware of a project that was in the development stage with an
area hospital. The children of one of the area preschools were
asked if they would like to help children who have to go to the
hospital. The goal set by the hospital staff was to place lamps in
the children’s rooms to cast a softer light than the bright
overhead florescent light bulbs. In collaborative conversations
Figure 3.  Children draw representations of their nature
observations as well as use books to support their
interpretations.
Note. This photo, for example, becomes part of the documentation
evidence.
with the preschool, the children were asked to design cheerful
lamp shades depicting pictures that would provide a sense of
calmness and happiness. Accepting the challenge, the school
invited pediatric hospital staff members to speak to the children
about the community project. The children examined a sample
of one of the lamps. The hospital staff shared with them that
they would be designing a lamp shade to cheer up the children.
Pictures of the hospital rooms were provided for the children as
well as picture books, both narrative and informational to serve
as points of reference and investigation. Rich vocabulary was
developed through conversations, and words both scientific
(translucent) and domain specific (hospital) were discussed and
clarified for the children as the need became necessary.
Through the efforts of the atelierista, the children designed
drawings and paintings on light boxes and overhead projectors
to determine how their drawing would be viewed with light
shining through, mimicking the translucency of the lamp shade.
The lessons learned by the children were both cognitive,
supporting intellectual pursuits, and affective, focusing on their
social and emotional well-being. This example of the
community embracing the child and supporting their sense of
belonging was evident at this area preschool.
While in Pistoia, I noted a broad-based emphasis on picture
books and storytelling. This is recognizable through the
prominent displays of books in Pistoia Infant Toddler and
Preschools. The storytelling emphasized in picture books was
often utilized as stimulus for understanding literary genre
structures: character, plot, and setting. The preschool children

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Figure 4.  Story book scenarios created by the
collaboration between the community and extended
families of Pistoia and area preschools.
became aware of story characters with dress-up clothing, as
well as the chairs and beds depicting the setting of Goldilocks
and the Three Bears (see Figure 4). The stories told in school
are encouraged to be retold at home, as this is described as an
opportunity for parents and grandparents to encourage
connectivity between the home and school.
Although Reggio Emelia’s inspiration is recognizable in
Pistoia preschools, teachers have additional foundations in child
development to build their individual identities. There is a
community of respect for children where an intergenerational
atmosphere prevails. Parents and grandparents are invited to
bring their artisan skills to help create, for example, puppets
that support stories or nursery rhymes that children have heard
at school. They sew quilts for the children to wrap themselves
in while listening to story. Books are thought of as objects of
affection and pleasure. It would not be uncommon to see a
puppet of a story animal or character on the hand of a child.
Often, a grandmother of one of the children in the school
makes the puppets (see Figure 5). The children often retell the
story to a classmate, voice mimicking the teacher’s storytelling
vernacular.
Intellectual Pursuits
While there are many outstanding and admirable
commonalities among the schools in Italy, one that particularly
resonates is the admiration of the child’s intellectual ability.
Acquiring knowledge of literacy skills is not accomplished
through endless alphabet recitation, phonic workbooks, or
worksheets. It is accomplished through inquiry, natural resources,
recycled materials, books, and the wonderings of the child. This
line of thinking is further discussed in the report, Lively Minds:
Distinctions Between Academic Versus Intellectual Goals for
Young Children (Katz, 2015). Katz describes two contexts of
educational goals: academic and intellectual. Katz shares in her
report two dispositions present in American preschools:
GIFTED CHILD TODAY
Figure 5.  Puppets are created to support story interaction
and are often created by intergenerational contributions.
1. Academic goals, “. . . usually related to preliteracy skills
in the early years, and practiced in drills, worksheets, and
other kinds of exercise designed to prepare children for
the next levels of literacy and numeracy and learning.”
2. Intellectual goals, however, “. . . address the life of the
mind in its fullest sense (e.g. reasoning, predicting,
analyzing, questioning, etc.), including a range of
aesthetic and moral sensibilities” (Katz, 2015, p. 1).
It is the intellectual goals, as mentioned in the Katz report,
that prevail in the Italian schools and are evidenced in play-
based and project-based preschools in America.
The Role of the Picture Book in Intellectual
Pursuits
Let us consider children’s intellectual pursuits through
picture books. The spirit of the Reggio approach is not reading
instruction but to learn from materials and books. Books act as
mentor texts that provide opportunities to ponder and
investigate. They provide opportunities for listening to the
author’s words and the messages they send through expressive
language. These books read by a teacher or parent develop
their sense of investigation by providing a lens of the world
through illustrator’s pictures or vivid photographic images.
An author/illustrator who was very visible on the
bookshelves in the Italian schools was a well-known author to
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 GIFTED CHILD TODAY
American children, Eric Carle. Crafter of a plethora of simple
and colorful collage illustrations, his stories appeal to children.
One of his first collaborations in children’s picture books was
with Bill Martin, Jr. with the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear
(Martin & Carle, 1967). This popular children’s book creates a
predictable tale with large vivid illustrations. Each page of the
book depicts a colorful animal such as a blue horse. The story
then continues with a query of “What do you see?” prompting
the children to interact with the text and pictures with the
guidance of the teacher. Each page turn leads to bold
illustrations and a colorful rendition of different animals. The
simple repetitious text leads us to “Mother, mother what do you
see, I see beautiful children looking at me.” The page turn
brings us to the faces of diverse children; very progressive
thinking for a picture book of this era. A discerning eye will
recognize that the opening pages of the book, better known as
the end papers, actually present an introduction to a table of
contents that displays the order in which the animals are
presented in the story. Limited in text, it is the pictures that
carry the meaning. All children can enjoy this book with its
subliminal introduction of colors. The story names the words
attached to the colorful animals. Children may play a matching
game with words and colors presented in the book. But what
the book begs is to have the children “see” as well as to notice
and note. Picture books should be visual extensions that
transfer and carry the reader/child to other conceptual
experiences. “What do you see?” as the Carle book chants, can
be expanded to their own personal inquiry. This text was used
as a means of asking the children to use their sense of sight to
make observations. Through the storytelling, the children are
able to make the story transfer from the book to other objects
in the room. During our observations in the schools, our cadre
of teachers was dependent on translators as the children only
spoke Italian. The books read to the children were all in Italian,
as many popular American authors have seen their work
translated into multiple world languages. But it does not take a
translator to see a gleeful face enjoying a story. One just needs
to watch the nurturing interactions to recognize the impact.
A child’s inquiry begins with their curiosities and wonderings.
Butterflies are very prevalent in Italy due to their lush gardens
and are valued elements of beauty. To satisfy the children’s
natural curiosity, hands-on exploration, interactions with nature,
and plenty of materials and books provide an environment of
exploration using many modalities of The Hundred Languages
(Edwards, Gandini, & Forman 2012). Picture books, both
informational and narrative, are rich with illustrations that often
depict an artistic style that can be replicated by the children.
Pervasive in all five of the schools visited was The Very Hungry
Caterpillar by Eric Carle (1969). First published in 1969, this
book has sold millions of copies and has been translated in 62
languages. During one of my school visits, I observed a teacher
with children huddled around her and in her lap as she took the
children through the story and illustrations of this engaging
picture book. The children hung on to every turn of the page as
she shared lively and brilliant colored illustrations depicting the
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July 2016
metamorphosis of a butterfly. It was this book along with many
other Eric Carle books that were prominently displayed in both
the Reggio and Pistoia preschools. Carle’s child-like depiction of
nature, habitats of earthly creatures, and stories of each animal’s
place in their natural world resonate with the philosophy of
these schools and the popularity they have among children. The
story of metamorphosis is portrayed in his signature, colorful
tissue paper, and paint collages. The illustrations share with us
the story of a caterpillar eating its way through tasty treats. It is
not the words, as much as the lively pictures, that allow us to
witness the transformation of a caterpillar into a huge and
colorful butterfly. The book also boasts special placement of the
pages that become larger as the caterpillar eats through one
apple, two pears, three plums, and so on. As the number of
fruits depicted becomes larger, so does the width of the page in
which each grouping of fruits is displayed. This leads to an
awareness of numeration, repetitive language, and time passage.
Healthy food choice issues also come into the picture as the
caterpillar eats through many other items such as a pie, a
lollypop, and an ice cream cone. But alas, he feels better after a
good munch on a green leaf. The joy of the story, the appeal of
the color illustrations, and the physicality of the text itself take us
on a journey through the life cycle of a caterpillar. The last page
of the book provides a double-page spread of the caterpillar
morphed into a beautiful butterfly. This picture book experience
provides a springboard of exploration for children while it also
fulfills subliminal elements of language and literacy through
storytelling, using this book as a mentor text. Discussions with
the children ensued, allowing them to ponder and support their
growing curiosities, and compare what they had learned from
their current nature study. It also helped the teacher develop
visual thinking strategies (VTS) with the children to develop
metacognitive processes.
Visualizing, Questioning in Picture Books
Visual literacy is a term often associated with the
interpretation of visual stimuli. Comprehending what we see in
pictures and illustrations expands our understanding and
supports meaning making. A strategy that provides aesthetic
understanding as well as promoting critical and creative thinking
is a method developed through the New York City Museum of
Modern Art, and director of education museum, Philip Yenawine.
Visual Thinking Strategies, Using Art to Deepen Learning Across
School Disciplines (Yenawine, 2014) utilizes fine art and
illustrations as a medium of critical and creative thinking. VTS
provides a structure for visual examination and asks children not
just what is depicted in the painting or illustration but what
message the content may be convey to them in terms of its
meaning. There are three simple questions that are asked of the
children that propel the VTS stimuli. They are as follows:
•• What is going on in this picture?
•• What do you see that makes you say that?
•• What more can we find out? (Yenawine, 2014)
vol. 39  ■  no. 3
Using this sequence of questioning, the children will
individually respond and revisit the picture while the teacher
points to the images they describe, paraphrases while remaining
neutral, and links their responses thus creating a continuance of
thought and visual story telling. Through this procedural
sequence of questioning and responding, we place the child as
the consumer of thought provoking art and illustration.
Inevitably, the child becomes the producer of thoughtful
observation, conjecture, and extended curiosity. These meaning-
making conversations add to our observations of child learning,
support their wonderings, while also dispelling misconceptions
by having them revisit their thinking, and, perhaps continue
their wonderings. Although VTS is not technically part of the
Italian pedagogy, it was highly recognizable in the manner the
Italian teachers posed questions and listened to the children’s
conjectures about what they were observing. This leads to
prolific documentation of the children’s interactions with each
other’s interpretations of the visual stimuli as well as their
newfound knowledge and transfer of ideas.
These additional books by Eric Carle promote critical and
creative thinking that may lead to intellectual growth. The Tiny
Seed (Carle, 1987) is a book about the life cycle of a flower. The
tall physicality of the book, its simple text, and vivid, colorful,
collage illustrations develop into a nature story that can be
shared by an adult, and then revisited over and over by the
child to verify their reasoning or predictions in their thinking. A
subliminal tale of predator/prey is depicted in the story of
friendship: Do You Want to Be My Friend? (Carle & Hyman,
1971). This book shares the value of friendship that comes in
animals of all shapes and sizes. An additional Carle book worth
mentioning is the imaginative book, The Mixed-Up Chameleon
(Carle, 1984). Children can reflect how they perceive themselves
in the world and how being who you are is a special gift to
have and to hold.
The beauty of nature and the living things in the world are
critical attributes of Carle’s books. It is not just in the physicality
of the books, the text, or the illustrations but it is also in the
story and the words that enrich, extend, and build relationships,
regardless of the language in which it is presented. It was
through interactions with text that the preschool children began
to see the need for letters to share their thoughts on paper. Eric
Carle visited the Pistoia Municipal Preschools in 2001, and the
legacy of his books and what they offer to the children prevail.
An Italian author of note is Leo Lionni. Although not originally
from Italy, his picture book career evolved while living in
Northern Italy. His simplistic and colorful illustrative style brands
his books like those of Eric Carle, a style easy for young children
to replicate and to tell their own stories. The following table
shares how Eric Carle and Leo Lionni books might be utilized in a
classroom setting in America or abroad. Table 1 identifies the
Mentor Texts along with the categories of Overarching Themes,
Artistic Style, a possible Inquiry Question as well as a Text
Structure for each of the six books. It can be noted that a compare
and contrast discussion can take place between Carle’s (1984) The
Mixed-Up Chameleon and Lionni’s A Color of His Own (1976).
GIFTED CHILD TODAY
Cognitive and Affective Purposes of
Viewing the Picture Book
The special meaning and more particularly, the
submerged association that words and images have for
the individual reader will largely determine what the
work communicates to him. The reader brings to the
work personality traits, memories of past events, present
needs and preoccupations, a particular mood of the
moment and a particular physical condition. These and
many other elements in a never to be duplicated
combination determine their response to a peculiar
contribution of the text. (Rosenblatt, 1938, pp. 30-31)
In picture books, we learn of the characters, their inherent
traits, and representation of their actions through illustrations and
visual literacy. Further emphasis depicts how these attributes affect
the behavioral or social and emotional qualities that may parallel
student life. What is the reader’s purpose when reading and
viewing picture books? In her 2005 text, Making Meaning With
Texts, Rosenblatt discusses the transactional theory of reading and
writing. She points out that reading is an interaction between the
reader and the text, and that each transaction provides an
encounter (Rosenblatt, 2005). The reader and text act and interact
with each other. This theory is carried out through two stances:
the efferent, “. . . the reader’s attention is primarily focused on
what will remain as a residue after the reading—the information
to be acquired, the logical solution to a problem, the actions to be
carried out.” Aesthetic, however, “ . . . the reader’s attention is
centered directly on what is being lived through during the
relationship with that particular text” (Rosenblatt, 1978, pp. 23, 25).
The Caldecott Honor book, Song of the Water Boatman and Other
Pond Poems (Sidman & Prange, 2005), blends both of these
stances. The efferent stance, often an expository type of reading,
informs as well as provides a determinate factor as to what reader
will focus on when the reading event is complete. These are the
cognitive factors. The aesthetic stance is viewed in terms of story,
drama, or poem. Feelings, images, and changing moods are
delivered or evoked by these genres. They provide what will
remain with the reader as a result of the interpretation during, as
well as after, the reading event. These may be considered affective
factors. The Song of the Water Boatman’s (Sidman & Prange, 2005)
pairing of poems and informational text provide expository
descriptions. The child has the opportunity to shift between both
stances, reflecting on the factual as well as on feelings. Triangulate
the (a) transactual theory with (b) noteworthy illustrations as well
as the (c) residue or what is maintained after reading, and the
child is provided with multiple ways of reflection on what is read
and well as viewed. Rosenblatt’s transactional theory resonates
with the philosophical foundations in Italian schools.
Final Thoughts
The next time I venture to Italy, it might be to seek out the
ultimate leather purse or pair of shoes, but my trip would not
be complete without a visit to Reggio Emilia or Pistoia
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Table 1.  Using Picture Books in the Classroom

A Color of
His Own, Leo
Do You Want Lionni (1976)
to be My The Mixed-Up (compare Little Blue
The Tiny Friend, Eric Chameleon, with The and Little
Seed, Eric Carle and Eric Carle Mixed-Up Yellow, Leo Swimmy, Leo
Mentor text Carle (1987) Hyman (1971) (1984) Chameleon) Lionni (1995) Lionni (1963)
Overarching Seasons and Friendship and You are unique Likes and Friendship and Ingenuity and
themes conditions size differences identity teamwork
for growth
Artistic style Tissue paper Collage Collage Tissue paper Torn paper Stamped print
and water and water collage and color
color color collage wash
Inquiry What How do Why might we What makes What is How does
question conditions we find want to be us alike and our own teamwork
are right for friendship? something different? identity? help
a seed to that we are overcome
grow? not? being afraid?
Text structure Chronological Problem Description Compare and Cause and Problem
order solution contrast effect solution
(seasons)

preschools. I would continue with my observations of young
children, nurtured in their intellectual pursuits with picture
books, investigations of nature, and the use of simple materials.
I would bring a suitcase filled with other books to share by
American author Lois Ehlert. This Caldecott Award-winning
author appeals to children with simple collage and montage
illustrations similar to those of Carle and Lionni. Using readily
available materials, Ehlert’s books beg for replication as well as
to expanded thinking and transference into other and life events
that children experience. Fulfilling the organic and constructivist
philosophy of The Hundred Languages, Ehlert’s (2014) The
Scraps Book, Notes From a Colorful Life takes children through
the author’s personal memoir of how she began her work by
sharing how she evolved as an illustrator looking at the simple
things of nature and using scraps to create her illustrations. As a
precursor to this book, children may enjoy Ehlert’s Hands,
Growing up to be an Artist (2004) as a read aloud during
storytelling time. These two books as mentor texts provide and
build the intellectual goals and pursuits of child development by
supporting children’s creativity and the notion of following their
dreams. These are similar to ideas portrayed in Carle’s and
Lionni’s books. Ehlert’s books support children’s exploration
and possible depiction and replication of their natural
investigations. Additional and noteworthy picture books by
Ehlert that follow this creative and replicable continuum for
young audiences include the following:
•• Growing Vegetable Soup (Ehlert, 1987), through the use of
color paper cuts, a father and child enjoy the process of
planting seeds and watching the vegetables grow together.
•• Color Zoo (Ehlert, 1989), this Caldecott Medal-winning
book shows how using simple shapes of colored paper,
different animals can be created. This is a perfect
springboard for noting progression and regression by
adding and subtracting shapes to create new animals.
•• Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf (Ehlert, 1991), this outstanding
example of collage, using actual pieces of nature, is
blended with water colors to share with viewers the life
of a tree.
•• Leaf Man (Ehlert, 2005), in this book that celebrates the
use of real leaves, the story is told through the lens of
Leaf Man, who goes wherever the wind may take him.
Children require a friendly and cooperative environment with
time to explore their curiosities and interests. Their hands-on
inquiry and investigations can be complemented by providing a
plentiful supply of books that simulate their intellectual pondering,
and thus adding to the resources a child use to continue their
quest and explorations of the world in which they live.
Conflict of Interest
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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vol. 39  ■  no. 3
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
References
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GIFTED CHILD TODAY
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Bio
Laura Beltchenko is a 34-year veteran educator. Her career in
public education includes classroom teacher, reading
specialist, teacher, and coordinator of gifted education
programs as well as an associate superintendent of
curriculum and instruction. She is the current Chair of the
Early Childhood Network of the National Association for
Gifted Children as well as the Chair for the Gifted Education
Advisory Council for the Illinois State Board of Education. She
is an adjunct faculty member in the Reading and Language
Arts Department of National Louis University in Illinois as
well as a National Louis University Friend for the Center for
Teaching Through Children’s Books. She has a master’s degree
in Reading Education, a degree in educational leadership
and began her doctoral studies in Reading and Language
Arts. Her study of children’s literature finds her developing
thoughtful in-service for educators with the intent of
addressing the needs of young and diverse learners. She has a
strong background in staff development and is a state and
national speaker on the topics of literacy development, and
children’s picture books.
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