Review: Children Reading Pictures: Interpreting Visual Texts

This review was first published in Bookbird, Oct 2003.

   The International Youth Library is fortunate to receive some of its best books on children's literature as unexpected gifts. In this particular case, Evelyn Arizpe sent her recently published book to the library in remembrance of her stay at the International Youth Library in 1990. In recent years, the topic of visual literacy has aroused great international interest among those involved in teaching and promoting reading. Our media-dominated world compells us to reconsider the specificity of visual concepts in children's books and their reception.

The first part of this commendable study is devoted to the nature of picture books, to their theoretical foundations, possible definitions as well as to various models of visual texts. In the second part, the authors aim to elaborate a suitable methodology and terminology for evaluating the effect of visual texts on young readers. This is followed by case studies with children from different age groups and social background that describe the children's oral and visual reactions to picture books by Anthony Browne and Satoshi Kitamura. The two artists' reflections on the children's comments arc of great value and provide new insight into the concept of visual literacy.

   The book as a whole demonstrates the impressively versatile visual competence of postmodern children who are perfectly capable of "reading" complex visual texts.

By Barbara Scharioth.