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Learning English through sharing picture books

Picture books

Foreword
Getting involved in your childs learning can have a positive impact upon both their attitude and the speed at which they learn. When parents help their children outside the classroom, there are rea l ben ets for childrens achievement inside the cla ssroom. Jim Knight, the UKs Ministe r of State for Schools and Learners: Parents have six times more impact on the learning of primary age chi ldren than teachers do. There are some simple ste ps you can take to encour age your child and build their condence in using English. British Council education al experts have developed new LearnEnglish Family products and services in order to support parents. We hope you enjoy using these products with your child. After all, learning tog ether is fun!

Every year thousands of childrens picture bo oks are published in the UK. Ch ildrens corners in books hops offer a bewildering choice of new and old favourites, illu strated by some of the best art ists working in Britain tod ay. Native-speaker children have many opportunit ies to enjoy these picture bo oks; there is no reason wh y young children learning Englis h as an additional langu age should not enjoy them, too.

Baby? Cressida Cowell and Ingri d Godon (Macmillan Childrens Book s, London, UK)

What shall we do with the Boo

Hoo

Child learning
The global experience of the British Council tells us that ch ildren have more chance of being succe ssful with their learning when teachers and parents work together.

Teacher

Parent

Written by Stella Blac kstone, illustrated by Debbie Harter (Barefoot Books) Reproduced by kind agreement with Barefoot Books Ltd (www.barefootbooks. com)

Bear About Town

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The advantages of beginning early

There was an old lady who

n oduced by kind permissio M Twinn 1973. Repr rved. onal) Ltd. All rights rese rnati (Inte Play s Child of

swallowed a y

glish, uction to listening to En From the very rst introd . oks lly selected picture bo children can enjoy carefu tur pic e k up the short text of a Young learners soon pic ngs the red with an adult who bri book, if initially it is sha pages alive. a very iliar with stories. From Children are already fam gh narrative style. It is throu young age they talk in dene y the t tha s experience their stories of everyday otions em and s their ideas, hope themselves: expressing y. pla e ativ in drawing and imagin in language as well as stories ady used to decoding Many children are alre home ir the evision or lm in and information from tel ed the joy may have already en language, while others en, ildr picture book. Most ch interaction of sharing a er their n work out how to transf if guided by a parent, soo picture lls to get meaning from individual decoding ski books in English. g up is not only about pickin Sharing picture books en a wider ildr ch ing giv t also abou another language, it is ided by their parents. window on the world, gu oks gives n of sharing picture bo The one-to-one interactio lly at ica list ho nities to develop children added opportu

rents el, knowing that their pa their own speed and lev more and re mo re As children sha are encouraging them. be en oft can is nce develops. Th books their self-conde and h glis proach unfamiliar En seen in the way they ap new experiences. h an parents and children wit Picture books provide guage lan me ing from their ho obvious reason for switch in e nc rents who lack conde to speaking English. Pa a text of a picture book is English nd that the xed and share, providing text to read useful prop. Apart from n, which the basis for interactio a picture book can be needs, ing op ir childs devel parents can adjust to the nts. interests and attainme ing concerned that introduc Some parents may be ool sch s ild t in with their ch picture books will not an is ok aring a picture bo syllabus or text book. Sh s families nd bo ng experience that additional English learni h lise that speaking Englis and helps children rea h ilies enjoy slipping Englis at home is fun. Many fam ryday picture books into eve phrases picked up from rd is rna Be w, no rsations. Not home language conve quite a favourite!

rd Not Now, Berna

David McKee ) (Random House

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It takes time to build up a childs readiness to talk about picture books in Englis h. Childrens silence, ho we ver , does not mean that they are not listening and learni ng (se e the British Council bookl et How children learn En glish as another language). Childr en usually understand more than they can say in wo rds and, if the book exp erience is focused and fun, the y usually want to pick up the new English at their own spe ed. Children are busy exp loring their world and most are keen to nd out someth ing new, particularly if it is presented in an encoura ging and attractive way.
Do Your Ears Hang Low ?

Learning from picture bo oks

Young childrens bored om threshold differs fro m adults. Many may ask for the sam e book to be read and re-read. Parents need to respond positively to these requests as re-readings provide the natural rep etition children may need for making meaning or pic kin g up new language as well as co nrming and rening lan gu age they have already acquired . Picture books, sometime s referred to as real bo oks, to distinguish them fro m graded text books, exp ose children to a range of lan guage structures and vocabulary familiar to native-speaker children . Illustrations in real pictur e books are not merely supporting understand ing of language, as mig ht be the case in many text books . The different styles of artwork naturally broaden childr ens visual experiences. One of the delights of sharing picture books with childr en is that, on rst viewing, children tend to look at an illustr atio n as a whole but with rep eated reading of the bo ok, details and subtleties usu ally emerge. The illustrations may be by well-known artists, pic tures may be photographs or the books may contain 3D novelty paper sculptures. How exciting it is for children to ho ld art in their hands. There is no doubt that exposure to picture books increases visual decoding skills and ove r time inuences creativity and the ability to appreciate design and illustration.

Caroline Jayne Church 2002

Parents can underestim ate their childrens ability to pick up more text each tim e a picture book is sha red . Ma ny are surprised to see ho w keen their children are to join in reading if they are enco uraged to nish off a sen tence or say a stressed word like No each time it oc curs. Once children work ou t how to join in, they gra dually extend their skills to pic k up whole short senten ces until, eventually, they can rec ite most of a text as the y turn the pages to match it to the illustrations. Many a bu sy parent purposely skipping a littl e text has had their mi sta ke pointed out by their ch ild!

Julia Donaldson and Nick Sharratt (Macmillan Childrens Book s, London, UK)

Hippo Has A Hat

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within their children nd meaning Picture books also help ns re over emotional situatio own life. Children can po ieve rel to lp he y e books that ma contained within pictur g itin exc ter they can encoun personal frustrations, or n ow ir ences way beyond the and imaginative experi power ir dreams. Imagine the environment or even the says, rmly shuts a book and a child feels as he or she GOODBYE Giant!

Selecting picture books

Picture books may be: ple story text including story books short sim conversation and rhyme t h short explanatory tex information books, wit rhyme ht introduce one story rhyme books, which mig s or an anthology of poem lpture rt text and 3D paper scu novelty books, with sho ng s, with an accompanyi character series book et. character doll or pupp and feel they books that they enjoy Parents need to select Before enthusiasm is infectious! can read condently y are the w they need to plan ho they introduce a book, follow d, rea and, each time they regoing to read the text k pic up nd it more difcult to the same plan. Children differs each time. language if the reading

h short vital to select books wit In the early stages it is ssfully and pick up language succe texts, if children are to re their es. Children can measu in a way that self-motivat adult praise, together with merited own success and this, feeling about sharing contributes to a positive English picture books. rally slightly longer, it is gene Where a simple text is tial story rst reading to the essen advisable to limit the iptions can understood, the descr language. Once this is e (see the ag gu lan ng parentese be gradually added usi your child). h wit Speaking English British Council booklet e selected to include som Most books should be h, glis En in el lev s d a child language a little beyon and e ag gu lan m familiar so the child can start fro guage. lan w ne move on to some ssfully, red several books succe Once children have sha ily in ether regularly in the fam the habit of reading tog ablished. English is likely to be est rases that lude some words or ph Ideally a book should inc h, so giving glis ildrens everyday En can be transferred to ch nsfer tra use their innate skills to them opportunities to ations. language to different situ

Next Please

Junge Ernst Jandl and Norman (Random House)

Monkey and Me
Emily Gravett s, London, UK) (Macmillan Childrens Book

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In selecting books paren ts need to think about gender and include some books that appeal to both bo ys and girls, so children have some common story exp eri ences to exchange. Some boys nd it easier to relate to information books rather than story books .

Book time
For successful sharing it is important to set the scene for regular book times. Children need to know tha t this is when they can snugg le up to parents and fee l co ndent that their parents will foc us only on them and sha rin g the book. Book time may be a sin gle session or part of a larger English session (see the British Council booklet Speaking English with your child ) which includes other act ivities in English. Ideally there needs to be an English bo ok time every day or at least eve ry weekday at about the sam e time, as frequent short exposure is more effec tive than fewer, longer sessions. Length can vary from ten minutes to longer periods to ma tch childrens readiness to learn and mood on the actual day. Regularity gives a feeling of security and someth ing to which children can look forward.

CD-ROMs and DVDs

Dear Zoo
Rod Campbell (Macmillan Childre ns Books, London , UK)

Some story books are sold with an attached CD -ROM or DVD. These offer childr en a different, less intima te and more passive experien ce than sharing picture bo oks. For profound learning, it is best to share the book un til children know most of the text by heart before exposi ng them to either the CD-ROM or DV D. Apart from the wealth of all-round experience s that come from sharing, children may not be ready, befor e they are familiar with the text, to cope with a voice and even accent that is different from the ir parents. By this time children are likely to have found ou t how to enjoy the picture bo ok, and may even want to read by themselves.

Kaye Umansky and Marg aret Chamberlain (Random House)

Pass the Jim, Jam

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to be read, re the choice of books It is a good idea to sha language may hide emotional or as childrens requests en st introduced once childr needs. A new book is be ssfully. the other books succe are beginning to read a day for ed sav book should be Presentation of a new . od children feel go when both parents and

Book browsing

ng Parents role in introduci new books

en are dependent on the In the initial stages childr picking eraction for input and parents reading and int up language. share a es as children begin to The role gradually chang increases, childrens reading ability little of the reading. As dually diminishes. the role of the parent gra are w the text by heart and By the time children kno es book aloud to themselv capable of reading the rasing ph reto ed uc red ts role is or to others, the paren successes. mistakes and praising parent is managing the Throughout this time the t what into their child to nd ou experiences and tuning added ed and where they need stage they have reach ok eats each time a new bo support. This cycle rep the h glis En re mo ildren learn is introduced, but as ch cycle takes less time.

e children enjoy form of play wher a is g sin s ow br Book turning the page in their own time, s, lve se em th rta by books it is an impo nt self-initiated play, all e Lik . nt wa ey when th e to revisit what it gives children tim own level part of learning, as eir learning at their th te da oli ns co d they want an nt. t that of the pare and speed and no ies to read to o need opportunit Young children als em to want to it is natural for th as , ily fam ed nd the exte a form of play. vements; it is also hie ac eir th e at demonstr nrm in childrens te and help to co Successes motiva is what the family a book in English e their minds that reading ren want to pleas s fun. Young child nd d an s ct pe ex th them. share fun times wi parents and also

Rosies Walk

Pat Hutchins ) (Random House

e library Building up a hom ll need to be stored

n already know we Books that childre feel like it, they so that, when they ce pla le ab ail av in an selves. At this ad it aloud to them re d an ok bo a can take of silent reading. n are not capable ing stage most childre the front cover fac ld be stored with to Ideally books shou ely lik is less g at a books spine outwards lookin g at this age. motivate browsin

Can You Spot the Spotty

John Rowe (Random House)

Dog?

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Books should not be ad ded to the home library before children know quite a lot of the text language. If children nd they can not read a text of a bo ok in the home library, the y are most likely to be demotivated. Keeping the feeling I can is imp ortant in the initial stages. An y I cant feelings take tim e and encouragement to chang e.

Dramatise the story reading and if possible includ Use different fun voices for animal noises and ch

e some physical gesture, as physical involvemen t he lps in memorising languag e.

Sharing reading
The amount of parentes e language parents ne ed to use depends on childr ens language level in bo th their home language and En glish. In the rst few sharings of a new book, parents need to remember the follow ing:
Susan Laughs
Jeanne Willis and Ton y Ross (Random House)

aracters like a cross Grandma, as you read the story. Ch ildren love to imitate characterisa tion and transfer it to the ir own reading aloud.

Point to each word as you read so that children de Encourage joining in by letting children nish off
or make the noises of

velop better left-to-right eye movement, and become co nscious of the shape of words. animals or transport. sentences

Make sure that children are close enough to see

how the parents lips mo ve to make sounds and how the eyes and face, as well as body language, convey the exc itement and emotions which facilitate underst anding.

Once the reading is nished, close the book and

Read at the childrens pace, letting them look at

the picture for as long as the y need. Young children are used to getting vis ual information to facilita te understanding. They oft en indicate that they hav e nished looking by tur ning their faces to look at the parent.

stay silent for a few seconds. Childr en may be in their own imaginative world and need time be fore they are ready to leave it. Asking too many quest ions about the book can spoil the magic. Families who en joy books together oft en nd that children, when they are ready, talk to them abou t the shared English books in their ho me language. If children use a home language word or phras e while talking English, it is generally be cause they have not yet acquired the word in English or have forgotten it. Make no mention about the mixture of lan guage and repeat back to them the whole phrase in Englis h. They will notice and generally pick up the English, ready to use it at some later sta ge.

Kaye Umansky and Nick

Stomp, chomp, big roar s! Here come the dinosaur s!

Sharratt

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rstand? How does the child unde ndings

Learning to read

Look Out! Its the Wolf!

Emile Jadoul (Evans)

rou decoding their own sur Young children are busy often ich ir home language, wh and making sense of the about ing guage, if they are not talk includes a lot of new lan ing rstand are very good at unde daily routines. Children to it. Unlike ing nd po res to them and the gist of what is said do not ther language, children many adults learning ano they rds wo t ou k ry word. They pic wait to understand eve ntext co m fro rest of the meaning understand and ll in the ial fac body language, eyes or clues and the speakers can get picture books, the child expressions. In sharing picture. additional clues from the ing, parents te quicker understand Initially, in order to facilita wever, Ho e. ating a word or phras may feel happier transl that er once only, using a whisp it is better to translate Children t. n and not part of the tex indicates it is a translatio y know a quick translation. If the easily understand from ations each to continue giving transl that parents are going uire the make the effort to acq book time, they do not English.

Cultural content

ists tend d by British-trained art Picture books illustrate ical of typ and cultural habits to reect environments m the fro t se are very differen British society. Where the added e ed to be prepared to giv childs world, parents ne language. explanation in the home

can ed when children who Parents may be concern code me language want to de already read in their ho g might . Parents think any readin words in picture books e of ls structured programm interfere with the schoo ding rea of ing ch h. Formal tea learning to read in Englis ding rea of ce en with the experi should not be confused in st ere int w re. If children sho picture books for pleasu ge ura co en read, parents should teaching themselves to lp them informally. their enthusiasm and he of the ucing the small letters They can begin by introd es. nam ter let nds, not their alphabet using their sou the are t) (for example b, d, m, The consonant letters nds, sou ter know some of the let simplest. Once children , rds at the beginning of wo point out these letters ). og d ( s sound stressing the initial letter letter re familiar with the small As children become mo e the uc rod int simple vowels), sounds (consonants and ing eat rep e of the small letters, capital letters by the sid their sounds. simple recognise the shape of Children soon begin to and , art he know the text by words as they already m to look to look for them. Ask the therefore know where expand and er parts of the text for the same word in oth this game.

r, What Do Brown Bear, Brown Bea

Bill Martin Jr/Eric Carle (Pufn)

You See?

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Many children who are already reading in their home language soon underst and how simple decodin g works and continue by thems elves to recognise oth er short words in the text. To he lp their decoding, howe ver , parents need to tell them how to read short, but difcu lt wo rds to decode, like the. If parents sing an alphab et song, explain that let ters have a name that is different fro m the sound it makes and in most alphabet songs we sin g the names of the letter s. Some children teach the mselves to read a text they already know orally, esp ecially if it is rhyme. Th ey use a number of strategies to decode the text and a littl e guessing to ll in until they know the text by he art . Ma ny children have been usi ng these strategies fro m an ear ly age to read logos of we ll-known products. Pra ise their efforts to read the text, but realise that this is res tricted reading based on a tex t they know orally.

However, being able to read a text motivates and is an important step on the journey to becoming a ue nt reader. Any reading done in an enjoyable, non-pressur ed wa y at this young age, when life long attitudes are being for me d, is likely to contribute to a later love of languag e and books.

He who reads widely, owns a gifted pen.

Chinese saying

Eric Carle (Pufn)

From Head to Toe

Petr Horc ek (Walker) Cover illustration 2006 Petr Horc ek From Silly Suzy Goose by Petr Horc ek. Reproducd by perm ission of Walker Books Ltd, Lond on SE1 1 5HJ

Silly Suzy Goose

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www.britishcouncil.org/parents One of a series of booklets commissioned by the British Council to support parents: How children learn English as another language Speaking English with your child Learning English through sharing picture books Learning English through sharing rhymes Written by Opal Dunn, Author and Educational Consultant from the UK and founder of RealBook News British Council 2008 The United Kingdoms international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).