Unit of Study: Postmodern Picture Books

Definition: Postmodern Picture books

• expand the conventional boundaries of picture book formats
• contain non-linear structures and storylines
• offer multiple perspectives or realities to the reader
• may be self-referential – they discuss their own creation or existence
• leave gaps for the reader to “fill in”
• contain elements of ambiguity or irony
• often contain surrealistic images
• includes the juxtaposition of unrelated images (like the artist Magritte)
• mock traditional (modernist) formats
• are often sarcastic / cynical in tone
• like hypertexts in web-pages, postmodern books do not have a linear format, readers can choose how to read them, create own paths through the stories
• promote the reader as producer, not consumer, of texts

Criteria for Selection:

Picture books that exhibit one or more of the above characteristics. These books generally are non-linear in structure, contain surrealistic imagery, have multiple story lines or narrators and contain self referential components.

Authors That Use Postmodern Techniques

Anthony Browne

David Weisner

David MacCauley

Janet and Allen Ahlsburg

Chris Van Allsburg

Jon Scieszka

Peter Sis

Colin Thompson

John Burningham

Allan Say

David Weisnewski

Web Resources

http://www.readingonline.org

http://vos.ucsb.edu/shuttle/theory.html

http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/assoc.html

Bibliography

Ahlberg, A. (1987). The Jolly Postman. Heinemann, William Ltd.

Anno, M. (1986). Socrates and the 3 little pigs. New York: Putnam

Banyai, I. (1995). Zoom. New York: Viking.

Banyai, I. (1996). Re-zoom. New York: Viking.

Base, Graeme. (1996). The discovery of dragons. Australia: Viking

Browne, A. (1977). Walk in the park. London: Hamish Hamilton

Browne, A. (1983). Gorilla. London: Julia MacRae

Browne. A. (1986). Piggybook. New York: Knopf.

Browne, A. (1989). The tunnel. London: Julia MacRae

Browne, A. (1990). Changes. London: Julia MacRae

Browne, A. (1991). Willy’s pictures. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

Browne, A. (1992). Zoo. New York: Knopf.

Browne, A. (1997). Willy the dreamer. New York: Walker

Browne. A. (1998). Voices in the park. New York: DK.

Burningham, J. (1977). Come away from the water, Shirley. New York: HarperCollins.

Burningham, J. (1978). Time to get out of the bath, Shirley. New York: Crowell.

Felix, M. (1980). The story of a little mouse trapped in a book. LaJolla, CA: Green Tiger.

Hirsch, R. (2002) F E G: Stupid poems for intelligent children. New York: Little, Brown & Company.

Legge, D. (1994). Bamboozled. New York: Scholastic

Macauley, D. (1987). Why the chicken crossed the road. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Macauley, D. (1990). Black and white. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Macauley, D. (1995). Shortcut. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Macauley, D. (1997). Rome antics. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin

Marsden, J. & Tan, S. (1998). The rabbits. Australia: Lothian

Martin, J. (1998). Snowflake Bentley. New York: Scholastic.

McGuire, R. (1997). What’s wrong with this book? New York: Viking

Rohmann, E. (1994). Time flies.. New York: Crown.

Say. A. (1995). Stranger in the mirror. New York: Houghton Mifflin

Say, A. (2002). Home of the Brave. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Scieszka, J. (1992). The stinky cheese man and other fairly stupid tales. New York: Viking.

Sendak, M. (1993). We are all in the dumps with Jack and Guy. New York: HarperCollins

Sis, P. (1996). Starry messenger. New York: Frances Foster.

Sis, P. (2002). Madlenka. New York: Frances Foster.

Snow, A. (1993). How dogs really work. Great Britain: HarperCollins.

Spiegelman, A. (1997). Open me… I’m a dog! New York: HarperCollins.

Thompson, C. (1993). Looking for Atlantis. New York: Knopf

Van Allsburg, C. (1995). Bad day at Riverbend. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Weisner, D. (1991). Tuesday. New York: Clarion.

Weisner, D. (2001). The three pigs. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Willard, N. (1991). Pish, posh, said Hieronymus Bosch. Ill. L. & D. Dillon. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

Wisniewski, D. (1999). The secret knowledge of grownups. New York: Scholastic.

Wood, A. (1996). Bright and early Thursday evening. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace