by Sofia Gravriilidis

1. Transforming the educational relationship:
Intergenerational and family learning for the
lifelong learning society
24-25 October, Bucharest, Romania
Crossover picturebooks and
intergenerational
communication
Sofia Gavriilidis
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
sgavr@nured.auth.gr

2. Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Patridge
Mem Fox, Julie Vivas, 1984

6. Children’s literature, child, adult

Children’s literature is created for children

The whole process of creation, promotion and distribution belongs
to adults

Many adults enjoy reading children’s books

Many children’s books address children and adults alike.

7. By L. Shanklin on October 3, 2001
Format: Paperback
For anyone struggling to love and care for individuals suffering from
Alzheimer's, this short book can facilitate the release of tears, as well as bring
hope and comfort.
review
Aug 06, 2011 Melissa added it
Shelves: picturebooks
This may just be my favorite picture book ever. I discovered it during grad
school when I worked at a children's bookstore, and it was love at first read. I
don't think I have ever once read it without tearing up. When I read it to the
littles yesterday, Scott had to step in near the end when I was too choked up
to speak. It's a beautiful book, and true in the way that sometimes only fiction
is.

8. Children’s literature, child, adult
A book is not addressed to children only if:
- it speaks about social depravity, homosexuality
or the Holocaust
- it reminds us that You are Only Old Once
- it has a philosophical
content and deals with
the profundities of life:
How to live forever
- it draws his material from
popular stories and infuse
them with different
meanings.

9. Child, adult and
Crossover Children’s Literature
Many books for children

cross over to adult reader and this is done on a very
conscious level

can communicate with both age readerships despite the fact
that each age group communicates with books in a different
way (Beckett, 2009; 2012)

10. What is Crossover Picturebook?

in picturebook words and images are interdependent

the meaning can only be made by combining the two
levels of narration: visual and verbal

it employs innovative techniques

it uses parody and irony

it defies conventional norms and codes that have
traditionally prevailed in illustrated books for children

it creates multiple levels of interpretation

11. Why Crossover Picturebook?
 “picturebooks
offer a unique opportunity for
collaborative reading between children and
adults, they empower the two audiences more
equally than any other narrative form” (Beckett,
2012; Scott, 1999)

12. Why Crossover Picturebook?
It is a suitable educational material for all ages:

It stimulates higher order thinking because of its social, political,
cultural and historical references

It covers a large number of relevant themes: discrimination,
aging, demographics, competition, game theory, migration etc

It can be used for college level economics

It can be used for the teaching of foreign languages to adults

It is a perfect tool for illuminating science topics: it triggers a
deeper understanding of a single concept in short time

13. The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales
Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith,1992

It is a collection of a
retelling of twisted parodies
of classic fairy tales

It defies literary convention
and stereotypes in narrative
structure using a series of
humorous twists and turns

It is a picturebook that
subverts the conventional

14. Jack, of the Jack and the
Beanstalk:

is the narrator

tells his own version of
some very familiar stories

undertakes the set up of the
book and makes sure that
the thread binding all
retellings remains unbroken

can speak with the
characters of the book

15. 
The hasty Little Red Hen begins
her story before the reader even
reaches the title page.

She asks questions about ISBN
of the book: “Who is this ISBN
guy”?

16. 
The Table of Contents is found
somewhere inside the pages of the book,
making Jack’s work more difficult

But it is also Jack who moves the
endpaper to the interior of the book: I
moved the endpaper up here so the Giant would
think the book is over

17. Everything in this book:
Content
Rapport with the characters
Peritextual elements
Printing elements
Ending
carry humorous new, different and/or surrealistic meanings.

Everything brings the opportunity to rethink the same stories
with new dimensions and re-evaluate the world we live.

When conventional practices or set perceptions are questioned,
old ideas are infused with new ones.

18. After reading the book we can discuss with the children
and ask them about:

What obstacles the characters had to face?

If they were able to overcome them and

What choices did they make?

19. Crossover Picturebook

Can be used as medium for intergenerational
communication

Can offer an equally interesting reading experience to
adults

Can be used as educational material

Can be used as a medium that can enjoy them.

20. “Infantilization” of adults or
“adultization of children and young
adults”?

21. Thank you for attention

22. Bibliography
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Beckett, S. L. (2012). Crossover Picturebooks: A Genre for All Ages. New York: Routledge.
Beckett, S. L. (2010). Crossover Fiction: Creating Readers with Stories that Address the Big
Questions. In M. Sim & D. Sim (Eds). Formar Leitores para Ler o Mundo (pp. 65-76). Lisboa:
Fundacão Calouste Gulbenkian.
Beckett, S. L. (2009). Crossover Fiction: Global and Historical Perspectives. New York & London:
Routledge.
Bloem, P. (2012). Research to Practice: Bringing Children’s Books to Adult Literacy Classrooms.
Retrieved 2 May from the Ohio Literacy Resource Center website:
http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Pubs/0200-12.htm
Carr, K.S., Buchanan, D.L., Wentz, J.B., Weiss, M. L., & Brant, K. J. (2001). Not just for the
primary grades: A bibliography of picture books for secondary content teachers. Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 45, 146-153.
Falconer, R. (2009). The Crossover Novel: Contemporary Children’s Fiction and Its Adult Readership.
New York & London: Routledge.
Kanatsouli, M. (2000): Ideological Dimensions in Children’s Literature [in Greek]. Athens:
Typothito.
Lewis, D. (2001). Reading contemporary picturebooks: picturing text. London & New York:
Routledge.
Miller, B., & Watts, M. (2011). Oh, the Economics You’ll Find in Dr. Seuss!, The Journal of
Economic Education, 42(2), 147-167.
Martinez, M., Roser, N., & Harmon, J. M. (2009). Using Picture Books with Older Learners.
In Karen, D., Wood, & W. E. Blanton (Eds.), Literacy Instruction for Adolescents: Research-Based
Practice (pp. 287 – 306). New York: Guilford Press

23. Bibliography
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Nikolajeva, M., & Scott, C. (2006). How Picturebooks Work. London & New York:
Routledge.
Sharp, P. A. (1991). Picture books in the adult literacy curriculum. Journal of Reading,
35(3), 216-219.
Shavit, Z. (1999). The Double Attribution of Texts for Children and How It Affects
Writing for Children. In S. L. Beckett (Ed.), Transcending Boundaries. Writing for a Dual
Audience of Children and Adults (pp. 83-97). New York: Garland Publishing.
Sipe, L. R. (2010). Peritext and Page Breaks: Opportunities fro Meaning-Making in
Picturbooks. In In M. Sim & D. Sim (Eds). Formar Leitores para Ler o Mundo (pp. 3356). Lisboa: Fundacão Calouste Gulbenkian.
Sipe, L. R. & McGuire, C. (2006). Picturebook Endpapers: Resources for Literary
and Aesthetic Interpretation. Children’s Literature in Education, 37(4), 291-304.
Scott, C. (1999). Dual Audience in Picturebooks. In S. L. Beckett (Ed.), Transcending
Boundaries. Writing for a Dual Audience of Children and Adults (pp. 99-110). New York:
Garland Publishing.
Wolfenbarger, C. D., & Sipe, L. R. (2007). A Unique Visual and Literary Art Form:
Recent Research on Picturebooks. Language Arts, 83, 273-280.
Yannikopoulou, A. (2010): Ideological Aspects in Illustrated Children’s Books. In G.
Papantonakis, & D. Anagnostopoulou (Eds.), Authority and Power in Children’s and
Young Adult’s Literature [in Greek] (pp. 165-173). Athens: Patakis.