One of the developmental steps in reading proficiency is learning how to predict while suspending certainty sufficiently to discover what actually occurs in the text. If the author had only one path to take and we could predict it with total accuracy, reading as recreation—which is how we get enough practice to make reading a real and employable skill to apply in many ways and circumstances—would become rote. We need to be able to guess with some accuracy based on experience while also experiencing changes that bring new perspective, tickle us, or push us a little further into critical thought.
Sometimes picture book creators—both authors and illustrators—surprise us with unexpected word choices or images. We predicted a character would say “No!” but it turns out the character says “Absolutely, certainly NOT!” We predicted that the author’s storytelling and the illustrator’s storytelling would be in synch—and yet we discover unexpected fantasy elements in the art that go beyond the words. In such cases, reading (which includes, with picture books, observing the details in the illustrations) takes us a bit beyond our assumptions and offers us new vocabulary, new considerations, and more for our storehouse of experiences.
This season brings us a rich supply of picture books which tease both child and adult predictive skills by serving up surprising twists in their storytelling. They are all accessible to pre-readers while also delivering new insights to those who have been reading picture books for decades. For that reason, they also make smart additions to classrooms and libraries serving middle and high school students as well as to those for the traditionally younger audience for picture books. These are picture books young and middle adolescents can use as support for exploring that land beyond the border of predictable certainty for the realm of adulthood with its unpredicted—often unanticipated—events.
From NubeOcho Books, A Different Kind of Fairy, written by Susanna Torrubiano with illustrations by Giulia Orecchia, gives us Rose (aka The Pink Fairy) who is frankly sick and tired of granting the demands of children who want this, that, and the other thing. She’s been doing her duty for years—producing candy here, a puppy there. Enough. That’s the alternative? What would you do if you had your fill of such a life—across centuries? To get the kids off her back, Rose turns to scaring them. And she’s brave about her rebellion, sharing it with the other fairy folk. And they give her just the right boost to support her efforts.
Rebellion is part of the game in Who’s Writing This Story?! by Robin Newman with illustrations by Deborah Zemke, published by Creston Books, as well. Here the familiar porcine dwelling builders seeking domestic protection from the Big Bad Wolf assert themselves—against the author. They are not pigs to be taken lightly and explain exactly what their true skill sets and methods of construction entail. In turn, the author tries to explain what’s needed to make any story work, from characters and setting, to plot and conflict, and final resolution. But hey, the pigs—and the not-bad wolf, too—got that, thank you very much.
The Robbery, written and illustrated by Joaquin Camp and published by Berbay Books, introduces us to a very different threesome. While Camp’s robbers, unlike Zemke’s pigs, may appear uniform, details matter: these fellow have their own unique personalities and much of that information—although not all of it!—is delivered visually. As a gang, their plan is a prosaic one for the robber type: get the money out of the bank by foul means. We follow their preparations, which go beyond the methods most of us assume; we watch their progress, which seems to go in the right direction—mostly. And then we come to the twist at the end. On reflection, we wonder, how many such robber plans actually do end up this way?
Prediction, certainty, expectations turned on their heads. There’s a recipe for great storytelling—and a necessary life lesson as well.