The World According to Picture Books

What I love most about picture books is that they take the youngest of readers to places they otherwise might never visit. A library card really is like a passport to real and imaginary worlds; and some children's books stay with us forever, like memories of real trips usually do.

Some picture books revolve around a central theme, while others have many different ideas and topics rolled into one. Some authors manage to pull in important subjects like diversity, geography, math, science, art, history, and especially critical thinking, into one extraordinary resource. Such is the case with If America Were a Village: A Book about the People of the United States (CitizenKid), by David J. Smith.

Even though there were roughly 300 million people in the United States around the time this book was printed (2009), the author calculated a representative sample to create an American village of 100 people. He goes on to break that group of 100 down according to ancestry, languages spoken, ages, religions, family life, occupations, possessions owned, etc...

The result is an extremely thought-provoking book, which is not meant to be read in one sitting. Children between the ages of 9 through 14 will enjoy reading it (in small doses) and discussing it with an adult. The conversation could go in many different directions! Your child even might become fascinated with statistics.

The author obviously did a significant amount of research in order to extrapolate the data the way he did. There is an extensive list of resources at the end of the book. However, he does mention that all the sources did not agree, which makes sense since data changes quickly over a short period of time. The statistics are not an exact science, but estimates which are meant only to spark meaningful thought and discussion.

Please note that the same author previously wrote a similar book about a global village. If the World Were a Village: A Book about the Worlds People (CitizenKid) was published in 2002, so the statistics most likely come from the 1990's. If you mention that to your child, it might be interesting to ask how the global village might have changed since then.

If I had been presented with children's books like these (instead of textbooks) when I was a child, I am sure I would have taken more of an interest in social studies. There are so many fascinating picture books relating to all aspects of history, geography, and diversity which are still not being utilized by many teachers!

Many people believe that picture books are for younger children only, but that just isn't the case anymore. In recent years, so many extraordinary picture books have been written and illustrated for people of all ages.

So, to all those who say it is advanced technology that will transform education, I must respond that children need to be exposed to a wide variety of resources and teaching techniques. Let's not forget about children's books - in print! I can't think of a better way to balance out all of that screen time anyway.

By the way, this post is part of the weekly Nonfiction Monday roundup. Today, it's being hosted over at Books Together blog. Be sure to stop by and check it out!