On February 8-10, over 150 librarians, educators, and graduate students attended three South Carolina State Library sponsored workshops presented by Rosemary Agoglia of the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Attendees learned about visually engaging young readers and the importance of inspiring children to read.
Agoglia presented sessions, The Whole Book Approach and Picturing Stories. The Whole Book Approach supports critical engagement with the picture book as an art form, places emphasis on reading with children rather than reading to children, and engages the group in a collaborative experience. In Picturing Stories, attendees were introduced to various visual literacy principles and used Carle's exhibitions to explore approaches to "reading pictures" and apply this information to create a visual story using cut-paper collage.
The sessions received rave reviews: "This workshop opened a whole new world involving picture books for me. I've always thought of art as being an on-going visual conversation ... now I know pictures are the introduction to that conversation."
"Picture books are E for Everyone, not E for Easy. In our country, there are few cultural opportunities for visual literacy. This is something I do already and now I know the WHYS behind it."
"I truly enjoyed myself--a reminder of what little art miracles picture books are."
The mission of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is to inspire, especially in children and their families, an appreciation for and an understanding of the art of the picture book. In fulfilling that mission, the Museum aspires to build bridges to an appreciation of art of every kind and to provide an enriching, dynamic, and supportive context for the development of literacy. The Museum delivers this mission by collecting, presenting and celebrating the art of the picture book from around the world and by providing interactive experiences and programs that are engaging and educational.
For more information about the Museum, please visit http://www.carlemuseum.org. For more information about the State Library's continuing education offerings, please contact Denise Lyons, Director of Library Development Services at dlyons@statelibrary.sc.gov or 803-734-6061.
