Potential for Children

Potential for Children

By Rd. Della N Kartika Sari A and Nicke Yunita Moecharam
When people talk about the most suitable books for children in regard to literary reading, they instantly refer to picture books. The assumption that children are more attracted to visual stimulants, those are pictures, puts picture books on the first list in books specially dedicated for children (Nodelman and Reimer 2003: 274). Moreover, as Oittinen (2004: 171) asserts in her article, the very nature of books for children is that they are “often illustrated and meant to be read aloud”. It is then important to have pictures illustrate accordingly to what the texts tell about to create a solid understanding of the scenes depicted in picture books.
Most importantly, the reading of picture books plays a large part in the development of language skills and literacy for children. They can construct social meanings and deeper understanding of their surroundings by means of producing verbal responses to various themes given in picture books. In addition, the visual arts in picture books enhance children’s aesthic awareness as they try to experience the illustrators’ expressions in the pictures.
This paper will elucidate the potential of picture books as one of media alternatives for teaching children in kindergarten classrooms. By observing how a kindergarten classroom made use of picture books, it is discovered that children develops a significat level of literacy and an understanding of simple visual arts.