Thursday, December 27, 2012

Blowin' in the Wind

I love Jon J. Muth's illustrations, so anytime I see something by him at the bookstore or library, I pick it up. This illustrated work to the Dylan song Blowin' in the Wind is a perfect text for exploring what might be possible when faced with a great challenge. Dylan's song is a milestone for us as a country, but Muth's additions offer a new lens to wear while considering the message offered in the song. By the way, a cd of the song is included in the book.

Here is a sample of one of the pages from the book:

You may have to enlarge it to see the details available in Muth's work, but believe me, you won't be dissatisfied with this adaption. I can imagine using this book with young readers when I wanted to explore both schema and mental images, although it would be a boon to use it with a group of savvy, well-grounded readers who were eager to dig into their own deep synthesis of a text. Using the song might just take the work into a whole new category of learning. Wouldn't that be a treat-- and something our illustrious leaders of education might benefit from making time to witness.

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