Picture Book Presentations
Each class member will be responsible for making a
five-minute presentation to the class on a picture book of your choice.
No "reruns" are allowed--that is, if someone else has presented a book,
it can't be presented again by anyone else. Books being presented must
be selected at least one week in advance of the presentation date; click
here for the books that have already been claimed. Picture books are
children's books whose artwork features as prominently in the storytelling
as the text of the story--books like Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild
Things Are or the famous Cat in the Hat books by Dr. Suess.
Selecting a Book to Present:
The CSUC library's children's book collection is reasonable,
although it favors older rather than more recent books. One nice feature
is the segregation of Newberry Award winning books in their own stack;
these books have been through a rigorous evaluation process and are selected
as meritorious for reasons as diverse as theme and illustration style.
These books are good choices for presentation, although it's certainly
not the only route to go. The Chico branch of the Butte County Library
(located at 1st Ave and Sheridan) also has a pretty extensive collection
of children's books, and it's easy enough to get a library card. You can
also browse at Barnes & Noble on Whitman; the best prices on kids'
books is probably at Chico News Agency's book department, located on Seventh
Street two blocks west of Walnut--everything is 30% off cover price, and
they have loads of interesting, good picture books in paperback.
One of the things that should guide your selection
is your own sense of the book's value. By "value" I certainly don't mean
that the book is better than other possible choices, only that it--for
whatever reason--is interesting to you. This could be because the book
held certain meaning for you when you were a child that you want to consider
and explore in the presentation; it could be because you're intrigued by
the artwork or storyline taken by the author and/or illustrator; it could
be because the story seems to have a message that you find interesting
or intriguing or shocking or ... You're the judge. But be sure that you
don't make a rash or uninformed choice; you should plan to look over 10-20
books before selecting one to present. If you pick a book that is very
popular or otherwise widely known, I will expect you to explore that popularity
within the presentation.
What the five-minute presentation
needs to include:
-
Introduction to the book itself. Bring the book to
class, and tell us the pertinent information: author, illustrator, date
of publication, basic storyline.
-
Reason for selection. What attracted you to this book?
-
Analysis of the book. Consider the apparent ideologies
of the story and illustrations:
-
What does the book's plot structure indicate about
what it seems to value?
-
How does the book represent or construct reality?
Consider both the mimetic and semiotic implications of the book.
-
What does the book seem to say about life in the time
and place of its publication?
-
What do the book's representations of gender (or class
or race or religion or ...) say about social values? Would the book be
a likely target for censorship?
-
Excerpt from the book itself: a brief reading from
the book. Practice this! Don't read it cold, or you'll likely be graded
down on this portion of the presentation.
This page last updated 9/2/02.