Back in October the New York Times published an article describing the recent decline of the picture book. Oh boy. This article made several good points about how parents are pushing their kids to read more challenging material. But they also make it sound like the picture book is a dying animal when, in fact, many outside the publishing world would say that the picture book is really thriving. In my library system, for example, many of the children's librarians stated that the picture book collection was the highest-circulating collection in their library. Don't even get me started on the benefits of picture books - including a wide and challenging vocabulary that greatly exceeds most early chapter books, as well as the way that picture books get readers to think critically as they examine both images and text.
But on to the good news. Yesterday the Times published something in their Opinion Pages that their editors had never seen before: A Scroll to the Editor. Sent by the teachers and students at an elementary school in California, this lovely banner declared the school's undying love for the picture book. Make sure you click on the link found on this page to read the full letter from the school's librarian, which describes how the school created their own Love a Picture Book Month.
How awesome is that?
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