You may know of the author and researcher Howard Gardner, who developed the theory of multiple intelligences in 1983. His theory proposes that we all learn in different ways. Some of us remember better if we see something. Others always remember what they hear or what they can touch. Some learn better in social settings and some learn better alone.
Most of us are a combination of different learning styles. What ways do you and your children learn best? When you remember something is it because you heard it, saw it, or did it?
Visual learners are the artists among us. Here are some books that celebrate seeing the world creatively.
“Dog Loves Drawing” by Louise Yates. Dog loves books. (And he also owns a bookstore!) One day Dog receives a strange book in the mail—it’s blank! Soon Dog realizes that this book is not for reading, but for drawing. Before long, Dog is doodling and drawing lines and colors making a new world, full of friends and surprises.
“Ms. McCaw Learns to Draw” by Kaethe Zemach. When Dudley has a hard time learning at school, he doodles. Dudley ends up doodling most of the time he’s in class, but his teacher Ms. McCaw never loses her patience. She supports and encourages Dudley’s desire to draw. Dudley thinks Ms. McCaw knows everything, until one day Ms. McCaw tries to draw–and finds she can’t. Can Dudley teach her something new?
“The Art of Miss Chew” by Patricia Polacco. This is an autobiographical account of how Polacco overcame her own learning difficulties in elementary school through artwork, with adults who believed in her.
“Lunchtime for a Purple Snake” by Harriet Ziefert, paintings by Todd McKie. When Jessica goes to visit her grandpa, who is an artist, she learns how to mix colors of paint and they paint a story together.
“Get Red! An Adventure in Color” by Tony Porto and 3CD. Big, bright photos, story text, and interspersed factoids give some interesting and entertaining information about the color red. The unique book format will inspire creative thinking. Porto and 3CD have also created a book in blue, “Blue Aliens! An Adventure in Color.”
Family Reading Corner 