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Kayla Harrison
Professor Plourde
American English Grammar
9 December 2014
From Picture Books to Shakespeare: What Children Should Be Reading
Anything can become a children's book if you give it to a child, according to American
novelist Orson Scott Card. Children are actually the best (and worst) audience for literature
because they have no patience with pretense (Card, n.d.). So, what if a child is given literature
dating back to the 1800s? What would be the difference in the way language develops in a child
who is read Shakespeare compared to a child who is read Goodnight, Moon? Children learn to
read and write by first learning and developing emergent literacy skills. Emergent literacy skills
include alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, and concepts about
print. Alphabet knowledge is the knowledge of the names and sounds associated with printed
letters (Morrow, 2012, p. 27). Phonemic Awareness is the ability to recognize that words are
made up of individual speech sounds (Morrow, 2012, p. 138). Phonological Awareness is the
ability to detect, manipulate, or analyze the auditory aspects of spoken language (including the
ability to distinguish or segment words, syllables, or phonemes). Concepts about Print is the
knowledge of print conventions (e.g., left-right, front-back) and concepts (book cover, author,
text) (Morrow, 2012, p. 27). All of these skills combined will provide a base for children to
start learning to read and write.
One way that children develop these skills is being read to by an adult or child who is older.
Children who are read to at an early age tend to have higher scores on language measures later
on, according to E. Duursma (et. al, 2008, p. 555). At 4-5 years of age, children are often seen

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reading picture books such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar, or No, David, No. These books
provide children with imaginative adventures, and provide simple sentence structure. Although
picture books are developmentally appropriate for young children, intellectual works such as
Shakespeares plays or John Rawls' Theory of Justice provide children with a wider range of
vocabulary and expose them to different styles and cultures in writing.
According to A.S.H.A.s developmental tracker (n.d.), a 5 year old should be able to use
future tense, understand order words such as first and last, say all speech sounds in words, use
sentences with more than one action word, and name letters and numbers. Through picture
books, children are able to reach these developmental milestones. Picture books are predictable,
which helps them (children) to understand the story and enables them to read along
(Morrow, 2012, p. 329). Picture books typically contain rhymes, repetition, catch phrases,
conversation, familiar sequences (such as the days of the week or numbers), and cumulative
patterns (where events are repeated or added on as the story continues) (Morrow, 2012, p. 329).
It is easy for a child to recognize the beginning, middle, and end of a story in a picture book. Dr.
Lawrence Sipe believes that childrens picture books, are more sophisticated than the text heavy
chapter books that are often seen as the next stage for young readers. Picture books invite all
sorts of higher-level thinking skills (Dr. Sipe, n.d.). According to childrens specialist
bookseller and writer Bianca Schulze (2010), picture books are ideal for children because they
allow children to practice the sounds of language, and the rhythm and rhyme in many picture
books help children learn words more easily (para. 7). Although picture books are
developmentally appropriate, intellectual works provide many benefits to children learning to
read.

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Lesley Mandel Morrow (2012), a professor of Literacy at Rutgers University, found that the
concept has been that children must learn to read narrative text in the early grades before reading
to learn information with expository text in the upper grades. This unnatural separation has
caused difficulties for students when the focus shifts to expository text in fourth grade and
children are unfamiliar with the genre (p. 333). Many intellectual works are informational and
provide the reader with a call to action. In Henry David Thoreaus Civil Disobedience, he
argues that the government is too often based on immorality and is therefore not to be trusted.
His work had influenced many reformers throughout history (Mott, n.d.). Children have a
capacity to read all genres of text at a young age. There is a misconception that 3-to-8 year olds
are too young to understand and enjoy informational books (Morrow, 2012, p. 333).
Intellectual works contain a wide range of vocabulary that is not typically used in
conversation, but is complex and is used in writing. These types of books are ideal to read with
children because children with greater vocabulary knowledge and understanding of spoken
language tend to have less trouble with reading (Duursma, 2008, p. 554). When a challenging
word is brought up, the adult can explain what it means and show or visualize the meaning for
understanding. The more the child is read sophisticated words, the more he or she will pick up
on the language and repeat it. According to George S. Morrison (2014), Kindergarten children
are in a period of rapid intellectual and language growth. They have a tremendous capacity to
learn words and like the challenge of learning new words. This helps explain kindergarten
childrens love of big words and their ability to say and use them (p. 272).
Shakespeare uses words such as bestow, pestilence, and honorificabilitudinitatibus
(Quinion, 2002). Children can learn sophisticated and complex words such as these. Andrew

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Matthews (2014), author of Shakespeare Stories, explains his experience as a young child with
Shakespeares plays:
When I was 11, my Mum bought me a Complete Works of Shakespeare, plonked
me down in front of the TV, and switched on An Age of Kings. This was a BBC series that
adapted eight of Shakespeare's history plays for television. I followed the text as I
watched. The play was full of intrigue, treachery, betrayals, murders, battles, and rude
jokes; by the time it finished, I was hooked. Shakespeare's beautiful language had
dazzled me. Of course, at that age I didn't understand all the words, but I fell in love with
the way they sounded.
Shakespeare has been with me ever since. I studied his work at school, and at
university, where I played the king in a production of Henry IV Part One. After university,
I taught English in a comprehensive school, which involved more contact with
Shakespeare, including appearing in amateur productions of The Winter's Tale and King
Lear.
Even if children do not understand every word they hear or read in an intellectual work, they
may be inspired and captivated by the type of language used.
Intellectual literature not only contains a wide range of vocabulary, but it contains rich
culture and life experiences. If some of the scholars and philosophers works were examined,
their origins and beliefs would be uncovered. Many of the works written by philosophers or
scholars are based upon their life experiences, and what they want to change for the future.
Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, who wrote about emotion and conflict in
human life. Throughout Shakespeares works there are mentions of death and despair. His
experience with the death of his daughter (William, 2014) is reflected in his works.
Shakespeare connects with his audiences because of the emotion and depth of his writing.
Shakespeare wrote in the 1800s which was also reflected in his writing.
Aristotle is a Greek philosopher who studied under the famous Plato. He wrote treatises
covering a vast range of philosophical thought, from biology, physics, logic, science, and

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metaphysics to ethics, morality, aesthetics, and politics. He developed a non-Platonic theory of
form, produced a system of deductive reasoning for both universal and existential statements,
and theorized on the cosmos, life, matter and mind, and the good life" (Aristotle, 2012, para.
5). Aristotle introduces new ways of thinking about the world. These ideas, if read to children,
could spark creative and inventive thinking in the future.
When I was a senior in high school, I was placed in an AP Composition class, aimed at
improving writing, and expanding knowledge and thought. My teacher had us reading works
such as John Rawls A Theory of Justice, Niccol Machiavellis The Prince, and many more
philosophical works. These intellectual readings opened my mind to new ideas and styles of
writing. I compared what I learned in class to what I learned from reading the summer reading
novels chosen by the school board. Some of the novels included The Hunger Games by
Suzanne Collins, and Divergent by Veronica Roth. Though these novels are respectable for
pleasure reading, I didnt gain as much knowledge from them as the intellectual works. From
reading these novels, I learned what a few people believe the world would look like as a
dystopian society and what crises would arise. From the intellectual works, I picked up on
sophisticated language that I continue to use today, and I learned of varying ideas about the
world. I also had the opportunity to read different styles and structures of writing. Young adult
novels seem to focus on the future and possibilities that could happen, but remain imaginary.
Intellectual works tend to discuss the here-and-now, and ways to improve society.
Between the effects of picture books and intellectual works, there is a median. Exposure
to different levels and styles of writing can help children develop their language further.
Children need to be challenged in order to improve their language skills. Lev Vygotsky proposed
the idea of scaffolding. Scaffolding is when an adult provides assistance to a child and slowly

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begins to ease off, until the child can perform on his or her own (Morrison, 2012, p. 14).
Reading to the child every day and explaining unknown word meanings until the child is able to
read on his or her own is an example of scaffolding.
The more a child is read to, the more his or her language will develop. Children who
experience shared reading from an early age tend to be more interested in reading at age 4 and 5
than children who receive shared book reading when they are older. It is not only the reading
itself that is important the type of conversations adults and children have during shared book
reading, as well as the emotional quality of the interactions and the discussions related to print
are even more important. It is not sufficient to simply read a text aloud in order to encourage
children to learn from being read to (Duursma, et. al, 2008, p. 555).
Children do not have to be read entirely intellectual works or entirely picture books. A
combination of both is ideal. Imagine the possibilities if expectations for children were raised, if
Shakespeare was implemented into the Kindergarten curriculum, and if children were introduced
to varying opinions and ideas of the world.

References
Aristotle of Stagirus. (2012, January 1). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from
http://www.egs.edu/library/aristotle/biography/
Card, O. (n.d.). Orson Scott Card. Retrieved December 15, 2014, from
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/120280-anything-can-become-a-children-s-book-ifyou-give-it

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Dr. Sipe, Graduate School of Education. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2014, from
http://www.upenn.edu/emeritus/memoriam/Sipe.html
Duursma, E., Augustyn, M., & Zuckerman, B. (2008, June 23). Reading Aloud to Children: The
Evidence. Retrieved December 14, 2014, from
http://www.reachoutandread.org/FileRepository/ReadingAloudtoChildren_ADC_July200
8.pdf
Four to Five Years. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2014, from
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/45.html
Matthews, A. (2014, April 22). Top 10 Shakespeare books for children. Retrieved December 15,
2014, from http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/apr/22/top-10andrew-matthews-shakespeare-books
Morrison, G. (2014). History and Theories. In Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education (7th
ed., p. 14, 272). Boston: Pearson Education.
Morrow, L. (2012). Literacy Development in the Early Years: Helping Children Read and Write
(7th ed., p. 27, 138, 329, 333). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Mott, W. (n.d.). About Thoreau: Civil Disobedience. Retrieved December 16, 2014, from
https://www.walden.org/Library/About_Thoreau's_Life_and_Writings:_The_Research_C
ollections/Civil_Disobedience
Schulze, B. (n.d.). How Picture Books Play a Role in a Child's Development. Retrieved
December 16, 2014, from http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/weblog/2010/11/howpicture-books-play-a-role-in-a-childs-development.html
William Shakespeare. (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 06:23, Dec 14, 2014, from
http://www.biography.com/people/william-shakespeare-9480323

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Quinion, M. (2002, June 15). Honorificabilitudinitatibus. Retrieved December 15, 2014, from
http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-hon1.htm