In Picture and In Words

I just stumbled across two Kindergarten teacher blogs discussing their use of 'In Picture and In Words' by Katie Wood Ray. They are interesting reads with insight into the interaction between children/picture books/and the creative process. I've added Katie's book to my Reading-Wish-List.



Growing Kinders




Mrs. Wills Kindergarten

Generating Picture Book Ideas

Reading Rob Sanders' Character/Situation Mash-Up reminded me of a tool I used to use to generate ideas for picture books. I took 3x5 index cards (cut in half because I write small, and they don't require many words) and divided them into three catagories, Who, What, Where . . . kinda like the board game Clue (the butler in the dining room with a candalabra). On the 'Who' cards I'd write a character, person, animal, etc.. Examples might be Chicken Little, Cow, Duck, Magician, Teacher, or Mad Margaret. On the 'What' cards I'd write a situation or event, examples might be Appreciation Day, Jump-Rope-athon, or Grandma Serving Tea. On the 'Where' cards I'd write things like Under the Table, Backyard, Crowded City Street, or pumpkin patch. Then shuffle each catagory and draw a card from each stack. I'd end up with something like: Rhino, At the Breakfast Table, Alien Invasion . . . just enough to tickle my imagination (oh yeah, a tiny flying saucer zips through the window and makes a splash down in my bowl of cheerios) and let my pen start scribbling!