Emergent Picture Books Literacy Analysis

Due: Week 4, 9-15-16

Submit to D4 and to Assignments in Canvas
Define/describe Emergent Picture Books: Picture books written for
children in their beginning literacy stages. There are many illustrations,
labels, simple text, or even no text, and are designed to be engaging. They
have concepts for beginning readers like the alphabet, numbers, colors,
and words. They can have simple stories and repetitive patterns which
makes the book predictable. (Anderson, 2006)
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 (include brief description of this category)Picture books that present numerous examples of a particular
concept.
Alphabet books On Market Street, Arnold Lobel, 1980.
Annies abc, Annie Owen, 1987
Counting books Quack and Count, Keith Baker, 1999. Sea
Squares, Joy N. Huime, 1991.
Colors Kitten Red, Yellow, Blue, Peter Catalanotto, 2005. Color
Dance, Ann Jonas, 1989.
Animals Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?, Bill
Martin Jr. & Eric Carle, 1967. Dear Zoo, Rod Campbell, 1982.
Plants- The Tiny Seed, Eric Carle, 1987. A Tree is a Plant,
Clyde Robert Bulla, 1960.
2) Pattern books (include brief description of this category)Picture books that contain repetitive words, phrases, questions, or
some other structure that makes them predictable.
Mr. Seahorse, Eric Carle, 2004. Mrs. Wishy-Washy, Joy Cowley, 1999.
3) Wordless picture books (include brief description of this
category)- Picture books in which the story is revealed through a
sequence of illustrations with no- or very few- words.
Home, Jeannie Baker, 2004. The Snowman, Raymond Briggs, 2000.
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- You can point under each word as the child says
it, which will help the child learn the concept of word. This is the idea
that a written word is a string of letters bounded by spaces
(Anderson 2006).
Speech-to-print match- Once children can match spoken words to
their written counterparts, they have made an important discovery

called speech-to-print match. Then, children will start to learn words

to sight (Anderson 2006). Once they realize that the letter that what
they are saying is the letter on the page that they are reading, they
are doing this task.
Concepts of print- Teaches the conventions like learning to read
left to right, top to bottom, and you start at the front and finish at the
back.
Sight vocabulary- Children can look at illustrations to get a hint for
words they dont know. When the children have books memorized,
then you can really start to work on the sight vocabulary.
Analyze one Emergent Picture Book using the following guidelines
and criteria:
First, select a quality piece of literature that is an emergent picture
book.
Criteria for Selecting Quality Piece of Literature: Select a quality piece of
literature from books listed in Huck's book, Anderson's PDF, books
introduced in class, books that won a book award, books written by a
reputable author introduced in class, or on any other book lists approved in
this course. If you are not certain you have a quality piece of literature,
contact your instructor. Selecting a book that is not quality literature will
affect your grade for this assignment.
Name of book, author (include first and last name of author), and
year published
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? Bill Martin Jr., Eric Carle. 1967.
Type/category of Emergent Picture Book: Concept; Animal
Age range book is intended: 2-5 years
Brief description or synopsis of book: A childrens picture book of
colors, animals, and repetition.
Book awards received, if any: Top 100 Picture Books of All Time by
School Library Journal in 2012.
Discuss how the books features could engage emergent readers
to promote literacy growth: Talk about the patterns, repetition, rhyme,
text structure, accessibility of text, etc. (Note: emergent picture books
typically have a limited plot, undeveloped characters, simple text) There is
a lot of repetition and rhyming. There is a specific text structure
throughout. Every animal asks and answers the same exact question. This
question changes depending on the color and type of animal that is next in
the book.
Kid-friendly format: Does this book appeal to targeted age group?
What grabs the young reader? What makes this book engaging?
Size of font? Significance of font style? Variation of font?

Amount of text? Simple sentences, phrases, labels? No text?

This is extremely kid friendly and engaging. The colors and illustrations are
so amazing. It targets kids ages 2-5. Since there is a pattern in the book,
this engages the children to predict the next page. The font is big and very
simple. There is no variation. The print is easily seen without any
distractions behind or next to it. There are only a few words on the page,
usually 8 words a page to be exact.
Page layout:
Where are illustrations and text placed on page?
To what effect?
Does page appear crowded? Or well-spaced?
Is there a consistent pattern or is there variation? Why?
Do some pages have no text?
The illustrations are very large, and the text is usually smaller to the side of
the animal. The page can be crowded because the animal is so large, and
the text is smaller and to the side. There is major pattern of a big animal
taking up the entire page, and then the text is to either side of that animal.
No pages have no text.
Teach concept: Does this book teach a concept (e.g., numbers,
colors, shapes, animals)? If so, how effectively does it do so? How
is the concept reinforced by the text and illustrations?
This book teaches animals and colors. It does so very effectively. This
concept is reinforced by the text and illustrations through repetition. Each
phrase includes an animal and a color of that animal
Tell a story? Does this book tell a story? Describe the storyline
briefly. There is no story. The book is about asking each animal what they
see, and the animal replies saying which animal they see on the next
page. It ends with an orange goldfish seeing a teacher, and the teacher
seeing the students, and the students repeating all of the animals that
were listed in the book.
Describe characters (if any): Describe any characters and their
role in the emergent picture book. There are many animals, a
teacher, and some students. Not really characters though.
Illustrations: How do illustrations communicate a concept, tell a
story, add to a story, or portray a series of events? Are they
engaging? Are they photographs or drawings? Are illustrations
labeled? How do the illustrations nurture imagination and inspire
children to infer and expand on the ideas they communicate?
The illustrations in every Eric Carle book are just amazing. He uses a very
unique technique where he cuts out pieces of colored tissue paper and
puts them together to create his images. They are very colorful and
engaging. They nurture imagination by implying that animals also have

colors. For example, he shows a purple cat. Cats are not actually purple, so
in this way it could nurture imagination. The illustration shows the animal
that is talking, so this is how the illustrations help the story.
Color: What colors does the illustrator use? Are there various
hues, saturations, tones of the same color? Do the colors change
with changes during the story? Are certain colors associated with
certain characters or events? Did the author use contrasting or
harmonious use of color? How does the color complement, expand,
and enhance the story?
There are many colors used. The author uses all of the colors in the color
wheel, and also uses colors like brown, black, and white. Each animal has
many variations of hues, saturations, and tones. The colors match the color
of the animal, like a green frog, yellow duck, orange goldfish, and so on.
The color enhances the book because the child is learning colors as well as
animals. It helps that the colors are very bright and engaging, so that the
reader can see and learn better.
Describe how you would you use this book in a classroom to
promote literacy learning? (e.g., read alouds, shared reading,
interactive read-alouds, thematic units, repeated readings,
dramatizing scenes, students creating their own picture books,
creating works of art, drawing and writing about the book,
vocabulary instruction, play and play centers, family fun days)
This book could be used in so many ways. It could be used in any form of
teaching to promote animal and color learning. It could also be used to
teach about patterns since the pages rhyme and they all have the same
stem sentence. In an interactive read aloud, you could have the students
say the color and animal out loud. The students could also draw about the
book. They can draw other animals and colors. They could even create
their own picture book with different animals and colors than shown in the
book. I could also do a unit about pattern books. There are many different
ways you could this book to promote literacy.
Include picture of book cover

Hyperlink to a book talk, video, and/or other book

analysis/critiques for this book (if available)
http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/01/top-100-picture-books38-brown-bear-brown-bear-what-do-you-see-by-bill-martin-jr-illustrated-byeric-carle/#_
Rate book on a scale of 0 to 5: Rate book according to the criteria
listed above. Justify your rating by discussing: I give this book a rate
of 5.
Features of the book you believe young children will find
most engaging- The animals and the illustrations.
How it could foster literacy growth (e.g., through its
patterns, repetitions, rhyme, vivid illustrations, labels,
introduction to vocabulary, concept learning, storytelling)
- It could foster literacy growth through its patterns, repetitions,
rhyme, vivid illustrations, introduction to vocabulary, and concepts
of animals and colors.
How it could nurture imagination, talk about the book, and
oral language development
- It could help children see the colors of animals. Every animal has a
color and children can learn by this and use their imagination to see
this distinction.
How it could relate to childrens own lives and build on their
experiences
- Maybe next time a child sees an animal, they will recognize what
color they are.

Recommended improvements to content, text, or

illustrations? Anything you would add or delete?
- I dont recommend changing anything.
Provide a reference page that includes a list of all books you used
for this assignment listed in APA format.
Baker, J. (2004). Home. New York: Greenwillow Books.
Baker, K. (1999). Quack and count. San Diego: Harcourt Brace.
Briggs, R. (2000). The snowman. New York: Random House.
Bulla, C. R., & Schuett, S. (1960). A tree is a plant. New York: HarperCollins.
Campbell, R. (1983). Dear zoo. New York: Four Winds Press.
Carle, E. (1987). The tiny seed. Natick, MA: Picture Book Studio.
Carle, E. (2004). Mister seahorse. New York: Philomel Books.
Catalanotto, P. (2005). Kitten red, yellow, blue. New York: Atheneum Books
for Young Readers.
Cowley, J. (1999). Mrs. wishy-washy. San Diego, CA: Wright Group.
Hulme, J. N., & Schwartz, C. (1991). Sea squares. New York: Hyperion Books
for Children.
Jonas, A. (1989). Color dance. New York: Greenwillow Books.
Lobel, A., & Lobel, A. (1981). On market street. New York: Greenwillow
Books.
Martin, B., & Carle, E. (1996). Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?
Board book ed. New York: H. Holt.
Owen, A. (1987). Annie's abc. New York: A.A. Knopf.

Rubric follows
Rubric for Emergent Picture Book Literacy Analysis
2.5

The student described emergent picture books and various categories

of this genre, as well as provided two examples of books that fit into
each category. Further, the student analyzed one emergent picture
book in depth, discussed the books features, how it could engage
emergent readers to foster literacy growth, critiqued its format,
illustrations, described potential use in the classroom, included
hyperlink/s to a book talk, video, and/or other book analysis/critiques
for same book student critiqued (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 emergent
picture books and the analysis the student presented for their selected
emergent picture book. 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.