The Power of a Picture Book

Hot, dry and dusty afternoons in West Texas don't have much in common with cool, misty days among the green rolling hills of the English countryside. Unless, of course, a book connects the two.

Neither place was my home. My home was in the bustling, big city of astronauts, of air conditioned sporting venues and of freeways and skyscrapers.

But here on my grandmother's screened front porch, I felt most at home, perhaps because in the shadow of the windmill, it felt as far away from the world as if I were on the moon. From there I could go anywhere and be anyone. Here, when not between the pages of my books, I could count grazing cattle or horses, let thoughts drift with the tumbleweeds, or gaze at the mountains piercing the sky. And when the distant lament of the 4 o'clock train whistle blew, I knew it was time to get back to the 'real world' and offer to help fix dinner or set the table ... or something useful.

Until the train whistle sounded, though, I could get lost in books - guilt free. My grandparents loved to read and encouraged it as a beneficial exercise. Regular trips to the small library in town were a treat during the special lazy summer days I spent in their 'tumble down house' during childhood.

However, for many years the most treasured books at Nana's house were not in my grandfather's library or in the library in town. They lived in a special box in Nana's wardrobe, to be removed upon my arrival. Tiny little books with glossy pages and grown-up dust jackets. Their very size seem to whisper that they held valuable secrets too special to shout about. And they did. Inside each one were the most delightful watercolours and simple stories of naughty rabbits, silly ducks, clever foxes, mischevious squirrels and their misadventures.

Beatrix Potter's soft watercolour illustrations are mesmerising in their blend of naturalism and fantasy and were able to pull me into her world - like Jane and Michael into a sidewalk chalk drawing.

Her books were a complete package of escape - balanced with gentle reminders to be careful, mind your mother, and to be sensible when having fun. Between the magic of Beatrix, fairy tales and Disney I was thoroughly convinced during childhood that animals had feelings, dreams and disappointments - just like me. Somehow it seemed easier (or perhaps safer) to connect to these feelings through whimsical animals than through human characters in a book.


click on pages to enlarge

This affinity for books has been inherited by our oldest child who at first was entranced by Pages, then Pictures, Stories, and Words. By the time he was three he had a nice little library of his own. He rarely went anywhere without at least one book in hand. He was even known to ask total strangers to read to him - and to his delight some obliged. When we moved from America to Australia he was only 18 months old and already a booklover. So much so, that every couple of hours of the gruelling flight, we gave him a new book to unwrap. It made the trip much easier to bear for all of us!

Within six months of arrival, we moved house again, and the continuing changes were taken in stride, partly I believe, because he always had his best friends (his books) with him. They gave him reassurance and constancy: their stories stayed the same and were always there when he wanted them. New books with new stories became a bridge to help him embrace all the other newness around him, too. We recorded some of his favourite books on cassette tapes so that he could 'read along' with familiar voices - while also becoming more familiar with those of his Australian family members. (His favourite part was making the noise in each recording to indicate when it was "time to turn the page"!)

Prompted by writing this post, I asked him what his favourite children's Picture Book had been as a child and he said, without hesitation, that it would have to be the clever and graphically bold Mr Men series. He remembered scrawling notes to Roger Hargreaves suggesting new characters, but which were never posted. We 'discovered' the Mr Men/Little Miss books in a grocery store soon after we arrived in Australia, and over time he collected most of them.

His favourite single book was "Imagine" by Australian author/illustrator Alison Lester. This book helps identify Australian animals and their habitats, but even more importantly its illustrations and lyrical poetry engage the imagination, showing how a bedroom or backyard can become a rainforest or wetlands with just a few basic props and some creative play. It became a launching pad for countless hours of fanciful thinking and theatrical flair. As a 6 year old he held his older American cousins (and their parents and grandparents) in awed silence as he launched unexpectedly into his own lyrical version of this story using a Steve Parish re-positioning sticker diorama to illustrate. His presentation underscored the power of a picture book in educating, enthusing and empowering children to express themselves and connect with the world around them, even as they use them to escape from it.

Thank you Megan for setting up this topic for a Blogfest, for hosting it, and for this opportunity to be reminded of the power of a picture book. There are few things more wonder filled than escaping into the chalk drawings of early childhood literature.

Please check out other posts on this topic at My Favourite Picture Book Blog Fest . Thanks for visiting with me! Is there a picture book you love or that springs to mind when you think of your childhood? I'd love to hear about it before you go. :)

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The scrapbook layout above was created with the kit "All Roads Lead Home" from Pxlcafe. It also features a coordinating FREEBIE overlay which can downloaded from their blog. I had so much fun using this kit - it is chockers with bits and pieces. I even cut up some of what was there to make my own bits and pieces. The look of this kit fit our Children's Picture Book theme so well, so it was a perfect choice to add some picture book whimsy to these photos of my son's early fascination with books.