Literary Autobiography, Part 1

I tried thinking as far back as I could to determine, what were some of the first books I've ever read? I don't remember my first real book. In my mind, it feels like there was one day when I really didn't know how to read, and the next, I did. And soon after that it was nothing but books. Like some weird.... literary Cambrian explosion.

That's right. The art major just made an evolutionary biology reference. Watch out.

Here's some of the books I've read, you know, standard stuff:

At the time, this was really big too.

I recently went back  and read this book. As an adult, the stories are a little sub-par. They were fun for us, when we were in first grade. It was the amount of spookiness that we appreciated during sleepovers or Girl Scout camp weekends. But even to this day, it's the pictures, the bloody pictures that make my skin crawl. 

 Yeah, I thought you'd appreciate that. You're welcome. You can thank  me more when you wake up in the middle of the night from nightmares of spiders laying their eggs in your face.

I guess my point in all is this is that for children, stories come alive when there is a visual story to tell. Kids need pictures. The best way for children to develop a value for the written word is to associate it with an image. Hence why kids love the picture books. I still love picture books. When we were in elementary school, we always raved about the books that received Caldecott Medal. Okay, in case you've forgotten, every year the Caldecott Medal is awarded to a particular children's book that has exceptional illustration in addition to an engaging story.

Get kids to even just look at picture books at an early age and you instill in them a love for stories, and eventually a love of reading. I say this because those who love to read usually can visualize what they're reading quite vividly. Hence, the title of this blog.

I think art is a powerful tool for children, in that they can give a visual representation to the words that move them. Also, art requires communication, and promotes dialog between people.