A colleague just had a baby and so I sent the family my favorite baby gift: Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever. Apparently I am not the only one who likes this gem as the book has been in print for over fifty years and sold over a half million copies. Amazon estimates that children all over the world have learned over a billion words through Scarry's books.
The Best Word Book Ever is really just that -- no story, rather pages with critters and objects and shapes that Scarry labels. I spent hours and hours with the book and a sibling in my lap: "find a car", "find an ear of corn", "find a bottle of milk". And on it went.
Scarry's formula is way outside the mold of the typical children's book. There is no linear narrative, no page with one large illustration on it, no dumbed down words that children might not know. And it worked for him, as he has a whole series of books in the same style: Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, What People Do All Day, A Day at the Airport and Busy, Busy Town.
Think about the message that you want to express, and then think of how you can convey it in your unique way. As Scarry proved, there is no template for what works. Sometimes what people are craving is what isn't there now, not more of what is.
-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
leadershipdots@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment