In our PEPELT films, which began in October 2018, we each shared our different perspectives on a theme and picturebook of the month. 27 times I enthusiastically began my films with ‘My name is Tatia and I work in Primary Teacher Education in the Netherlands’. My films and my Facebook posts consider a picturebook’s affordances for educating student teachers for picturebook-based PELT. In this post, I shall reflect on the PEPELT picturebook choices and themes I found the most compelling in the primary (student) teacher education classroom.

Poetry

‘Freedom, We Sing’ by Amyra Leon and Molly Mendoza (Flying Eye Books, 2020 ) and ‘The Undefeated’ by Alexander Kwame and Kadir Nelson (Andersen Press, 2020) saw me present student teachers with picturebooks written in verse form. ‘Freedom We Sing’ is based on a song; it is powerful yet gentle, and the illustrations create a flow of text and image. “The Undefeated’ is spoken word poetry; the language is strong and passionate, supported by its bold illustrations. Student teachers were all consumed by these two picturebooks. They realised that working with rhyme-based picturebooks did not necessarily mean navigating uncommon, low-frequency vocabulary chosen for the sake of a rhyme. They could identify with lyrics and a beat, sometimes rap-like. They recognised the unity of the song, spoken word, and illustrations, and how this could support oral literacy development. Finally, ‘Freedom, We Sing’ and ‘The Undefeated’, especially the video-read-aloud by Kwame Alexander for The BookTrust to a teenage audience, convinced student teachers that picturebooks can be an engaging experience for secondary-aged language learners because of its powerful message of equality for all.

Rise Up
Banned Picturebooks
Migration

PEPELT’s theme for June 2020 was ‘Tolerance’, and our picturebook of the month was ‘The Suitcase’ written and illustrated by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros (Nosy Crow, 2019). The student teachers in my class were around 20 years old, and many of them grew up locally. Some had never found themselves in a situation that required them to relocate, let alone flee to save their lives. I wondered thus how they could connect with this picturebook and include it in the classroom in an empathetic and inclusive way via   words and actions. I felt I needed to create a personal connection. So, I began by telling my story—the story of how my parents moved a lot between countries and cities and how, as a child, I needed to integrate even though Idid not speak the language, did not look the same, and did not have the same background. I explained how lonely it was and that I relied on children and teachers to be kind, to be tolerant, and to help me. I then asked them if they could pinpoint exact moments, events, or occurrences when they had to integrate and had felt out of their comfort zone and what words and actions made or would have made a difference. This activity was a steppingstone to understanding the impact of the back cover of this picturebook ‘Why is he here?’, ‘Where has he come from?’, ‘And just what is in the suitcase?’.

Tolerance
Economic Disparity

In December 2019, our theme was ‘Needs and Wants’ and our book of the month ‘Those Shoes’ by Maribeth Boelts and illustrated by Noah Z. Jones (Candlewick Press, 2016). Financial hardship is a theme I can relate to, so I continued to work with this picturebook over the years. In 2021, shortly after the publication of ‘The Invisible’ by Tom Percival which tells the story of a girl who becomes invisible when her parents do not have enough money to pay the bills, I ran an in-service masterclass in a primary school based in the wealthier side of town. We discussed hardship and poverty. The teachers were unaware of picturebooks which focused on this theme but highlighted the need for them to be included in the curriculum. They expressed concerns as they had become aware of silent poverty and emotional poverty amongst children and were keen to establish how these picturebooks could encourage action-taking without singling out children, parents, and/or carers in need. In 2022, I return to picturebooks that explore financial hardship, foodbanks, and homelessness during our PEPELT theme on ‘Children’s Rights’. I discuss three picturebooks books that eventually became the starting point for the recent teaching resource written with Gail for the British Council.

Needs & Wants
Childrens Rights
Picturebook lesson series: Exploring Social Issues
Gender

Over the years, PEPELT has shared various picturebooks that focus on gender and develop gender literacy (see Gail’s post on June 11, 2023). In February 2020, for example, we discussed ‘Julian is a Mermaid’ by Jessica Love (Walker Books, 2021), which ‘celebrates the story of a gender creative child whose identity and expression challenge traditional expectations of boys’. This picturebook offered an unforgettable experience for me personally. It was the last lesson of a semester-long course, and after weeks of student teachers ignoring this book, I asked them all to read it. We then gathered, and I simply asked them what they saw. The replies were fascinating as they moved from a boy dressing up for carnival to supporting imagination, exploring creativity, and exploring identity. I then asked if there was a place for this book in their classroom. The answer was an overwhelming “yes,” supported by different reasons. Some reasons were very personal; others referred to experiences from the classroom, such as boys aged 5 coming to school with blue nail varnish and the need to stimulate imagination and encourage children to be who they want to be without reading anything else into it. It was a lesson that showed that at times each reader will and needs to interpret a text in their own individual way, and as educators, we need to offer this opportunity in a  safe and protected space.

Award Winning Picturebooks

I hope you have enjoyed this anecdotal visit highlighting what I consider to be some of the most compelling PEPELT themes and picturebook choices to empower educators. Thank you for following PEPELT over the years! Tatia