Book Connection, Collage

The bright colors and graphic quality of Gerald McDermott's trickster tales and folk tales are like eye candy for children. As teachers, we can find shape, pattern, and symbol throughout these books, not to mention interesting discussion points. I think of these as math books first because of symbol. The children have symbols and these characters have symbols as well.

We read Jabuti, The Tortoise today. Last week, we read about Blue Coyote, Raven, and Zomo the Rabbit. Next up, Arrow to the Sun. This last is a good one for dramatic play, but I like the colors the best and I get to bring in my corn maiden doll to share. Since we have shared enough of the books to get a sense of symbol and shape, it made sense to make some story pictures of our own.

So out came the glue wash applied with foam brushes against a bright pink background. Using left-over painted paper from an earlier project will give the finished pieces some extra visual interest. We will use these collages to illustrate stories of the children's own invention.