The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

This past November, many schools, libraries, and other literacy supporters celebrated National Picture Book Month. At Meadowlark Elementary School, Librarian Kelsey Harry held various activities, including a drawing for most picture books read and reviewed. On November 23, two winners were announced and presented with awards.

Picture Book Month is an international literacy initiative that celebrates the print picture book during the month of November. Full of meaningful morals, artful illustrations, and endearing characters, picture books are important because they hold the power of language and teach children how words sound together. Furthermore, they empower children with lessons in how to read and how to form context as they build both comprehension and vocabulary. Most of us can likely name a favorite picture book that has left a lasting impression.

To encourage reading and responding to literature, Harry assembled bags of picture books and delivered them to each of the classrooms. She invited the youth to read the books and then to either review them or to take Accelerated Reader (AR) tests on them. Each review submitted or test successfully taken gave students a chance to enter into the school drawing. "The more they read, the more times their names got entered into the raffle, therefore increasing the odds of their winning," Harry explained.

The preprinted review sheets that Harry included with each bag of books asked K-3 readers to rate the book with one-three stars and to draw a picture illustrating their favorite part of the story. Conversely, readers in grades 4-6 completed reviews with four parts: a section that included the book's title, author, and a one-five star rating system; a drawing of the book's cover; an illustration of the reader's favorite moment in the text, along with an explanation for that choice; and space to explain the reason for their rating.

"Students can regurgitate details about a book with AR tests, but to get a glimpse inside their minds about what they liked about a reading experience and why they enjoyed that part just adds another layer to their understanding of a text. The review sheets are really fun to read," Harry reported.

From the K-3 group, Harry received a total of 160 reviews/AR test scores, and in the 4-6 group, participation numbers netted 96 reviews/AR tests for the readers' raffle. About those statistics, Harry said: "That's a whole lot of reading!"

Winners of the grand prize drawing were first grader Carl Schmidtke in the K-3 age group and fifth grader Lillie Skoyen in the 4-6 grade group. Each received a basketful of age-appropriate books and other kid-friendly items such as book marks, book bags, light-up pens with crazy-critter toppers, and assorted candies.

In additional Picture Book Month activities, Chinook School District Superintendent Fred Hofman filmed himself reading The Picture Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak and posted the video on the Chinook Meadowlark School Facebook page on November 18. Aware of the misnomer in this book's title and designation, Hofman explained that before children read words, they read pictures and learn the structure of a story.

As Hofman read, he animated the story with facial expressions, vocal variations, and sound effects. Although the book itself does not feature pictures, the words on some pages are printed in colored and artful fonts; other words conjure pictures and stimulate the imagination.

Several K-3 students, including the artist of this review, read Pig the Slob, which is number eight in the Pig the Pug series by Aaron Blabey. Blake gave the book three stars and decided that "Pig does not care" about the messes that he makes.

Equally important, Novak's book opens conversation about the power of the written word. It inspires young readers to make up their own words and sounds or to write a story with made-up words and silly directions that a parent must read and perform.

Acclaimed for his standup comedy as well as his performances in television and motion pictures, Novak intends for the underlying message of his picture book to communicate that reading and making up words and silly stories produce pleasure. Even though Novak may not have intended for the book to serve as a transition book for young readers who will move into chapter books and eventually pictureless novels, it functions in that way, as well.

Harrison, who performed a reading ritual in his previous position at Harrison Public School, used Novak's book to begin a similar routine here. "It will be a weekly thing. I am planning to read a Thanksgiving story on November 23," he announced.