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1฀ C H A P T E R฀ Picture Books and Fantasy Texts Jenny฀Tyrrell฀ INTRODUCTION In this chapter the importance of developing the imaginative powers of children will be discussed. Much is written about the need for our schools to produce children wh o ca n thin k creatively , bu t littl e i s sai d abou t ho w thi s i s t o b e achieved. One way to do this is to use powerful books in the classroom. Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak will be studied and suggestions made to utilize the potential of such a text. PRE-READING฀QUESTION S฀ Think about the following questions before reading the chapter: 1. Wh y should creativity be encouraged in Hong Kong school children? 2. Ho w can books be used to encourage the development of creative thinking in young learners? 3. Wha t tasks are best suited to bringing out the full potential of a 'powerful ' storybook in the primary classroom ? DO฀OU R฀CHILDRE N฀HAV E฀TIME฀FO R฀IMAGINATIV E฀PLAY ?฀ Fantasy and the development of the imagination are an integral part of growing up. As teachers we often say , 'that lesson went well because the subject really 52฀Jenn y฀Tyrrell฀ caught thei r imaginations' , bu t ho w ca n w e harnes s thi s forc e t o creat e a sustained imaginative environment in which literacy skills can flourish? Many Hong Kon g teacher s hav e tol d m e that their pupils ar e very goo d a t factua l writing, but when they are asked to write an imaginative story a lot of children seem t o struggle . Perhap s the y don' t reall y kno w wha t i s require d becaus e they hav e no t ha d th e opportunity t o experienc e enoug h storie s whic h hav e fired their imaginations. It seems to me that as we approach the twenty-first centur y and celebrate the progress o f man's inventive powers, some vital aspects of life have been pushed aside. It is possible that childhood is shrinking in that children seem to have less opportunity for imaginative play. Toys are often so realistic that they leave little room for interpretation. Gone are the days of the faceless woode n doll who could take on any character. Now they are mass produced and seem to impose the way a child will respond. A doll beautifully dresse d as a bride, a nurse, a spaceman o r a soldier restricts a child in the situational role that the character ca n play . Imaginatio n thu s become s a second-han d experience . Original response is limited. TV and film producers impose their imaginative interpretations on us. Well-known stories are given the Hollywood treatment . There is little room for pictures to form in the mind, for fantasies to develop. Living in an urban environment means that for safety's sake children have to be supervised closely. Life is rushed and regulated from a very early age and it is possible that some children do not have the space to daydream, to invent imaginary friends, to indulge in creative play. They enter formal schooling at a very earl y ag e an d ar e encourage d t o conform , t o perform , t o functio n a s members of a large group, and to respond with the correct answer, but are they ever asked to imagine, and think beyond the immediate situation, or to think for themselves? Books can be a way into such thought extension. Some childre n ma y hav e been luck y enoug h t o have had th e chance t o share picture books in their pre-school days. They will have begun to experience the pleasur e tha t a boo k ca n bring . The y wil l hav e bee n excite d b y characterization, predicted outcomes and savoured particular sections of a text. When they enter school the books they meet are often different . Stor y books are superseded by sets of texts for teaching reading. If that is the only material they se e i n class , the n readin g ca n b e reduce d t o just anothe r schoo l task , especially i f that reading is not in the mother...

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