Tanya Sousa's Blog - Posts Tagged "children"
From Behind the Words
I worked with Desiree (name changed) in my school counseling room once a week. We brought together paints and canvases and created, simultaneously sorting through the challenges of her twelve-year-old life. She discussed problems, and I sometimes helped her decide what to do by sharing my own past situations and offering different solutions that worked for me. Sometimes she would stop speaking and hold the paintbrush still in her hand because something on her canvas didn’t look right. I pushed my own brush against the palette and showed her new techniques to make it work.
Sometimes Desiree read me her poems and asked for critique. She wants to be a writer someday, and maybe an artist, and maybe a teacher, and maybe a veterinarian, and maybe a hairdresser. “You don’t have to decide on one thing,” I told her, and pulled out copies of magazines colorful with words and photographs. I point out my paintings on the wall and gesture around to the school counselor’s office. I show her by example there are no walls that can contain her, and she can blend the things she loves.
The most community benefit anyone can offer is providing examples for our youth of how to live fully and with joy and health. Authors have used words to share ideas for countless generations, but I think it takes a writer’s art to a higher level when s/he steps out from behind the words and is also an example. When we are gone, our written words will continue to speak for us if we are lucky. However, the impact we make on the world not just by what we write but by what we do will influence generations even if our words have not become classics and are lost in mounds of dust.
Even if I don’t become famous or widely read, benefit has already begun through the very ideas of writing I share. My students know I write feverishly when I’m not with them and what my stories or novels are about. I’ve shared some in draft form and show them the finished product later. They’re aware when a dear project is sent away and have witnessed some of my successes and rejections.
Having the thoughts, assertively seeking resources and taking the risk of rejection is my living example. Desiree’s eyes were wide when she first realized how much work my writing takes. “What if you’re turned down,” she asked. “Won’t it kill you to have done all that work for nothing?”
I explain it’s never “for nothing”. I tell her about the benefit from the mental exercise of writing, about the importance of reaching for dreams, and the beauty of believing in something passionately enough to share it, and now Desiree seems to work harder when she paints or writes her poetry. She’s beginning to see. Her face shines like a light at moments when she realizes anything is possible. I live for that look on children’s faces the same way I live for telling a story.
Sometimes Desiree read me her poems and asked for critique. She wants to be a writer someday, and maybe an artist, and maybe a teacher, and maybe a veterinarian, and maybe a hairdresser. “You don’t have to decide on one thing,” I told her, and pulled out copies of magazines colorful with words and photographs. I point out my paintings on the wall and gesture around to the school counselor’s office. I show her by example there are no walls that can contain her, and she can blend the things she loves.
The most community benefit anyone can offer is providing examples for our youth of how to live fully and with joy and health. Authors have used words to share ideas for countless generations, but I think it takes a writer’s art to a higher level when s/he steps out from behind the words and is also an example. When we are gone, our written words will continue to speak for us if we are lucky. However, the impact we make on the world not just by what we write but by what we do will influence generations even if our words have not become classics and are lost in mounds of dust.
Even if I don’t become famous or widely read, benefit has already begun through the very ideas of writing I share. My students know I write feverishly when I’m not with them and what my stories or novels are about. I’ve shared some in draft form and show them the finished product later. They’re aware when a dear project is sent away and have witnessed some of my successes and rejections.
Having the thoughts, assertively seeking resources and taking the risk of rejection is my living example. Desiree’s eyes were wide when she first realized how much work my writing takes. “What if you’re turned down,” she asked. “Won’t it kill you to have done all that work for nothing?”
I explain it’s never “for nothing”. I tell her about the benefit from the mental exercise of writing, about the importance of reaching for dreams, and the beauty of believing in something passionately enough to share it, and now Desiree seems to work harder when she paints or writes her poetry. She’s beginning to see. Her face shines like a light at moments when she realizes anything is possible. I live for that look on children’s faces the same way I live for telling a story.
Reviews and Giveaways
There's something about writing a story that is satisfying in and of itself, but there's a whole different, vibrant thrill about knowing people are actually reading your ideas. Still better is hearing that someone has really loved what you've taken so much time and energy to craft.
I'm not certain about the formatting of blogs, so I hope this link works; it's one of my favorite reviews of my picture book "Life is a Bowl of Cherry Pits":
http://yearlingbaby.blogspot.com/2012...
I'm doing a giveaway for this book for one month. There are 10 copies (they will be signed of course!) up for grabs if you're one of the winners.
Happy entries and good luck!
I'm not certain about the formatting of blogs, so I hope this link works; it's one of my favorite reviews of my picture book "Life is a Bowl of Cherry Pits":
http://yearlingbaby.blogspot.com/2012...
I'm doing a giveaway for this book for one month. There are 10 copies (they will be signed of course!) up for grabs if you're one of the winners.
Happy entries and good luck!
Picture Books in the Classroom
Education in Pictures
I write picture books, among other things, and I’ve been passionate about them before I ever thought of writing one. I poured over them as a child, and I use them in my role of guidance counselor both in the classroom setting and when I meet with individuals. I use them because they reach people in more than one way. They are picture books, and it’s true what they say – that a picture is worth a thousand words.
When we get into the realm of educating children, we focus so much on the written words and spoken words. These are important, of course, but there are so many levels of communicating ideas and knowledge. Images are arguably one of the strongest tools and yet are seriously under appreciated and underused. Some studies have shown that children’s behavior choices will often be more influenced by cartoon images, for instance, than by watching a real event of the same thing (For instance the Bobo Doll Experiment in the 1960’s by Albert Bandura). Our brains think in images. We dream in images. With this in mind, let’s not forget the powerful educational tool those illustrations in children’s books can be.
This is the reason I’ve always loved illustrations that are detailed rather than the simpler forms that seem so popular these days. Don’t get me wrong, there’s wonderful entertainment in bright, simple artwork! However, there’s an extra level of knowledge and wonder in the more complex images. In Jan Brett’s book about Berlioz the Bear, the text gives information, but her beautiful paintings show subtleties of the behaviors and relationships. There is also information there in the depictions of architecture and environment. I’ve used her book to stimulate not only the idea of not giving up and of helping each other, but also to stimulate discussion on other cultures. The words to the book never really offer those layers, but thanks to paying close attention to the artwork, much more learning is possible than what appears at first glance.
All of my own picture books incorporate illustrations like this, and I worked collaboratively with the artists to make sure other shades of information would be passed along through those images. In Fairy Feast, for instance, the text talks about the importance of eating a rainbow of foods, but the images show the fairies treating each other and the other living things in the book kindly. Monique Bonneau’s paintings show things that are important to growing your own garden – rain, beneficial insects, and so forth. I didn’t have to mention all of those things in the text itself.
I encourage you to use picture books in your classroom at that deeper level if you don’t already. Have your students of all ages take time with the illustrations and discuss what they see going on there. They’ll relate to the words and concepts in a deeper, natural way.
I write picture books, among other things, and I’ve been passionate about them before I ever thought of writing one. I poured over them as a child, and I use them in my role of guidance counselor both in the classroom setting and when I meet with individuals. I use them because they reach people in more than one way. They are picture books, and it’s true what they say – that a picture is worth a thousand words.
When we get into the realm of educating children, we focus so much on the written words and spoken words. These are important, of course, but there are so many levels of communicating ideas and knowledge. Images are arguably one of the strongest tools and yet are seriously under appreciated and underused. Some studies have shown that children’s behavior choices will often be more influenced by cartoon images, for instance, than by watching a real event of the same thing (For instance the Bobo Doll Experiment in the 1960’s by Albert Bandura). Our brains think in images. We dream in images. With this in mind, let’s not forget the powerful educational tool those illustrations in children’s books can be.
This is the reason I’ve always loved illustrations that are detailed rather than the simpler forms that seem so popular these days. Don’t get me wrong, there’s wonderful entertainment in bright, simple artwork! However, there’s an extra level of knowledge and wonder in the more complex images. In Jan Brett’s book about Berlioz the Bear, the text gives information, but her beautiful paintings show subtleties of the behaviors and relationships. There is also information there in the depictions of architecture and environment. I’ve used her book to stimulate not only the idea of not giving up and of helping each other, but also to stimulate discussion on other cultures. The words to the book never really offer those layers, but thanks to paying close attention to the artwork, much more learning is possible than what appears at first glance.
All of my own picture books incorporate illustrations like this, and I worked collaboratively with the artists to make sure other shades of information would be passed along through those images. In Fairy Feast, for instance, the text talks about the importance of eating a rainbow of foods, but the images show the fairies treating each other and the other living things in the book kindly. Monique Bonneau’s paintings show things that are important to growing your own garden – rain, beneficial insects, and so forth. I didn’t have to mention all of those things in the text itself.
I encourage you to use picture books in your classroom at that deeper level if you don’t already. Have your students of all ages take time with the illustrations and discuss what they see going on there. They’ll relate to the words and concepts in a deeper, natural way.
