EDUC681 Final Project

EDUC681 Project 4 Epstein 1
Student voice, engagement and expression:
The importance of the illustrated text in French as a second language secondary classrooms
Introduction
Every student has a story. The unfortunate truth is that many are left on the shelf while
potential readers pick up others. An educator’s job entails picking up every story and reading its
entirety no matter how terrific the triumph or sorrowful the disappointment. Insofar as sharing
those stories with their peers, a teacher’s goal then must be to aid students in “developing a
language to see differently…within disciplines” generating “largely reflective talk…[with] both
a heuristic and communicative function” acknowledging “aesthetic
choices…perspectives…changes…[This] offers teachers and students a way to talk back to the
accountability culture by making explicit their understandings of multimodality and of
themselves as sign-makers” (emphasis mine; Siegel, 2012, p. 12). Here students studying
additional languages gain the agency to express their ideas in a new, enlightened manner.
Therefore, looking critically into use of student voice via illustrated texts in secondary French
classrooms, the integration of visual literacy will posit students as arbiters of a critical visual
praxis in their additional language and about the literary cannon/tradition thereof.
Scholarly reflection
According to Jaffe (2013), illustrated texts “…offer enticing multimedia reading
experiences to all kinds of readers and learners” (p. 7). Teaching French as a second language
curriculum where students become familiar with this medium—picture books perhaps—affords
many different learners various ways of accessing content knowledge. Furthermore, focusing
less on what is written and more on what appears visually positions learning at many different
angles simultaneously. “…[I]t is no longer sufficient for curriculum designers to overwhelmingly

value the traditional practices of reading and writing linear alphabetic text while thinking of
images as merely supplementary clarifiers of meaning” (Lowe, 2012, p. 370). In other words, the
images themselves serve the same purpose as the text in providing meaning to the sublime if not
superimposing the goal itself. Students can create their own narrative using burgeoning
additional language skills outside of the text by analyzing the images instead of regurgitating the
written word.
Benton (1992) argues that this secondary world established by students is in a state of
“continuous oscillation between anticipation and retrospection…[A] temporal dimension to the
secondary world, allows for the way in which memory deals with information during the
composing and reading of a story, and defines the limits of this world as starting ‘once upon a
time’ and ending when all ‘live happily ever after’” (p. 28). Students thus will use illustrated
texts to assess their own development as competent users of French within a narrative format.
The stories delineated from these images allow a sense of where they started while still charting
their current level of comfort and knowledge as additional language learners. Students
consequently
see books less as mirrors and more as maps. They are indeed searching for their
place in the world, but they are also deciding where they want to go. They create,
through stories they’re given, an atlas of the world, of their relationships with
others, of their possible destinations…[They] imagine themselves well within the
borders they are offered, to color themselves within the lines (Myers, 2014, p. 3)
These maps, therefore, must be considered as valid units of assessment for both students and
teachers because a sizeable amount of agentive power shifts from the text onto the student.
By allowing students to speak around the images rather than about the prose, analyses
and developing literacies deepen while students express richer ideas and structures within the
context of their progressing French oral and orthographic skills. Sipe (2008) asserts that this

“semiotic perspective provides a foundation for viewing children’s literary understanding of
picturebooks not as a deficient form of adult understanding, but the beginning of the same
process of sign interpretation used by adults” (pp. 16-17). Adolescent French additional language
users posit the illustrated text as a means to demonstrate a matured, or even heightened, sense of
sociocultural and linguistic knowledge. No longer contained within a limited, lexical box,
“…students are able to focus their attention and powers of interpretation. As a result, they read
images at an impressively deep level and are able to connect ‘local’ meanings within the panel to
‘global’ themes throughout the book” (Versaci, 2001, p. 98). This new agency students gain from
the visual, therefore, allows teachers to present more controversial—and somewhat less
contrived—subject matter into the classroom. Teachers, in giving students more difficult
material, position a new bracket of leaners: students who engage more actively in class and with
the material.
When students actively engage in the learning process, the development of their French
will progress much more rapidly and fosters more in depth study. Herein, students “‘must learn
to look for specific, significant objects rather than do what seems to be more natural for
prelinguistic beings and give equal attention to the entire picture plane’” (as cited in Sanders,
2013, p. 62). Use of more traditional, text-only media forces students to copy linguistic
features/structures already provided by the author. Students of illustrated media instead draw
more readily on colorful vocabulary and more complex grammar because they rely on thoughtful
expression rather than the monotony of heavily chaperoned speech or writing.
Verasci (2001) argues that it is more natural for students to use extralinguistic forms like
illustrated texts for literacy development. He continues that use of illustrated texts “…requires
the reader to engage much more with the act of reading than simply recognizing words on a

page…[R]eading brings: losing oneself in another world, grappling with important ideas that
become animated through narrative…desiring to tell stories of one’s own” (pp. 93-94). In this
“semiosis of the imagined” (Lowe, 2012, p. 372), students grapple less with how to properly
express themselves in French and more with how not to limit their interpretations of images. The
subsequent focus transfers from specific linguistic expression/form to circumlocution of thought
and development. “In this model, curriculum doesn’t remain a safe, preplanned route that we
control. But this is where the power of engagement and intellectual curiosity originate…[B]y
allowing students to bring their life-texts into school…[t]hese maps are a new sort, not telling us
exactly where we’ll end up, but guiding our journeys into unfamiliar—but provocative
landscapes” (Lewison et al., 2002, p. 224).
Finally, in introducing illustrated texts to the French secondary classroom, teachers
redefine the confines of literacy. Literacy becomes more about socialization into language rather
than inorganic techniques of reading and writing. “‘…[I]t is a matter of structuring a practice
among a group of children in which readers, or listeners, can claim a story as their own so that
they remember this story, it becomes part of their repertoire of living memories’” (as cited in
Lewison et al., 2002, p. 217). Students’ intellectual growth via illustrated texts preponderates a
sense of comfort and makes learning an additional language interactive and fun. This type of
classroom environment pushes students to explain ideas and points of view tangentially over
focusing on rote memorization of verbal paradigms or nominal phrases.
The purpose of including illustrated texts into the French secondary classroom, then, is to
afford students the opportunity to understand the curriculum through a different means. With
these visual texts, students “…see what [they] learn to see, and the act of viewing a picture
involves [their] active construction of its elements in a meaningful whole rather than a simple

passive reception” (Sipe, 2008, p. 18). Therefore students are not subject to chaperoning of
knowledge and now can express their knowledge in many formats. So, when trying to
incorporate illustrated texts into the French as a foreign language classroom, teachers must
address the following inquiries: How will students attain sociocultural knowledge via illustrated
literature? Are there ways in which L2 literacy instruction can be multimodal? What needs must
be met for L2 literacy development via illustrated texts? Can students express their ideas in L2
more effectively when discussing an illustrated text versus traditional prose? Why are illustrated
texts more apt for the L2 classroom as opposed to bulk-text excerpts?
Rationale1
—Text set 1: Early and developing literacies
In thinking about my own literacy developments, albeit in both first and additional
languages, no author proved more successful in aiding me than Dr. Seuss. He implored readers to
follow certain textual rhyming patterns as they entered very colorful worlds with just as vibrant
characters. Therefore, as Siegel (2006) argues, “…literacy development should be theorized as
participation in the vital work of childhood, that is, learning about and acting on their world and
their place in it” (p. 67). Using Dr. Seuss in a French as a second curriculum ought to begin the
process of making additional language learners literate. In other words, using “Seussian”
literature in the classroom teaches students basic phonetics, lexical tokens and uncomplicated
grammar structures while presenting wild and bizarre illustrations.
Despite entering students into a literate world, Dr. Seuss books found in languages other
than English are transliterated. This means that his jaunty and spritely rhyming scheme is lost
1
In these text sets, language assessment follows the Common European Framework (CEFR)
rating scale. Though no scale is omniscient or always accurate, I believe CEFR to be the most
accurate in describing exactly what each level or sublevel includes with attention to
sociolinguistic and sociocultural knowledge more so than any American or UK equivalent.
Appendix A will include full descriptions of the levels labeled from A1-C2.

when read in French. It is unfortunate as many early and developing literates rely on this stylistic
choice because of its ease of use. However, “[i]n Piagetian terms, assimilating the textual
material and accommodating it to our own experience are fundamental ways in which literary
understanding operates” (Benton, 1992, p. 33). What students lose in literary nuance, then, they
gain in being able to ascertain heightened vocabulary and more chances to enter the secondary
world via narration of images. By having to insist upon making a more exaggerated story with
harder textual elements, students must focus more on the visual to help them understand the plot
structures throughout Seussville.
Below are four suggested texts form the Seuss cannon. These books are best suited for
use with students who are just enrolling in a French program. Their comprehension is minimal,
but growing rapidly. The “Seussian” literature as follows has limited prose, but compensates for
that with larger and more active imagery. For students, the creation of a critical visual praxis is
quickly introduced because few characters and colors exist that would normally distract novice
learners. The plots remain relatively straightforward with minimal—if any—major derivations
that would cause additional confusion or interest. This allows students to focus more on L2
expression rather than complicated details.
Vallier, J. (2009). The cat in the hat = Le chat au chapeau : In English
and French. New York, NY: Random House.
Summary: In Seuss’ first work for children, Sally and her brother are left
alone bored on a rainy day. Fortunately for them a friendly human-like cat
with a striped hat comes over to brighten their spirits. This story blurs the
lines of the primary and secondary worlds as each new dilemma and
character is introduced by the Cat-in-the-hat. Eventually the children’s

house is wrecked only to be put back together again before the arrival of
their mother, how happens to be the only adult character within the plot.
CEFR: A1-A2
Pedagogical implication: In this comedy of errors, students will gain the
ability to describe objects with “BANGS” adjectives, use expressions of
color and reimagine their own possible experience with the mayhem of the
Cat-in-the-hat.
Ray, A. (2011). Poisson un, poisson deux, poisson rouge, poisson bleu.
Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press.
Summary: Seuss, in this classic, introduces beginning readers to the
adventures of difference and tolerance. It follows characters of different
types like Nooks, Womps, Yink, Yaps, Gaks and the Zeds. The book is
simple to understand because the structures go from words to full
sentences as it follows all the creatures. The narrators engage the story
because they are pictured throughout the text.
CEFR: A2-B1
Pedagogical implication: Throughout this tale students will learn more
vocabulary such as color and number. More important they are exposed to
more complicated grammar structures, such as the diminutive and varying
verbal paradigms. More importantly, however, students enter a vibrant
story where interpretation can begin to envelop the plot itself. Question
posing will begin as student notice that no two characters are colored the
same or have the same shaped body or are not even the same size.

Ray, A. (2009). Les œufs verts au jambon. Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press.
Summary: Dr. Seuss continues his classic style and crazy characters in this
book. He pens “Sam-I-am”, the protagonist, as continuously asking if his
friend would like to eat green eggs and ham. Despite his best efforts, his
friend does not like what Sam has to offer. Or does he?
CEFR: A1-B1
Pedagogical implication: Students here are exposed to negative verbal
structure, prepositions and simple question formation. With very limited
lexical tokens, students are able to execute their own explanation of the
plot as it is presented very straight forward with little to no energy or
thought required.
Ray, A. (2013). Comment le Grinch a volé Noël! Berkeley, CA: Ulysses
Press.
Summary: Following a miser aptly named “Grinch”, Seuss has readers
enter their own secondary world of Christmas in Whoville. The “Grinch”
has never has a wonderful experience around this holiday unlike every
other resident. So, he decides that because he is miserable everyone else
ought to be as well. Nearing the end, “Grinch” learns the real meaning of
Christmas outside of the joy presents can brings.
CEFR: B1
Pedagogical implication: Students leafing through this book see varied
and more complex grammatical structures. This book will anchor the text
set and a transition from the novice level to the intermediate where student
must rely more on the images for comprehension and less on the text.

Rationale—Text set 2: Gender studies
Sub units—masculinity, femininity, queer studies/sexuality, (potentially) race/ethnicity
and socioeconomics
As students develop more formal knowledge of French, teachers can vary the level of
controversy within their choice in texts. More provocative topics should enter as student gain
comfort and familiarity while literacy grows. By introducing a unit on gender studies, students
begin finding their own voice on more mature content while still assessing and increasing their
French literacy. Teachers, therefore, in “opening up curricular spaces to talk about [a
controversial subject matter]…can begin to envision what might be possible in…classrooms. The
students’ questions, interpretations, and experiences can be starting points for provocative,
thoughtful, and difficult discussions…going on in the larger world” (Lewison et al., 2002, p.
219). Students then are allotted a bit more control over their own additional language
development.
Furthermore, teachers using more critical and taboo subjects present students with more
sociocultural knowledge about the culture thereof. This helps intermediate to more advanced
students position themselves not only as learners, but also as global intellectual citizens. Thus
Siegel (2012) argues that “[t]he question before us is how to redesign school literacy so youth
can develop the broad repertoires of literacy knowledge and practices they will need to
successfully participate as citizens of local and global communities characterized by constant
change and increasing diversity” (p. 4). In doing such, we allow students a chance to mature
intellectually and form their own opinions while also surrounding them with more opportunity to
increase their lexical development in their additional language.
The texts provided below all fall under the purview of gender studies. However, each
affords an opportunity for multiple different perspectives on topics such as patriarchal notions of

masculinity and femininity, queer issues and relations, as well as coming of age in a world of
difference and intolerance. Furthermore, with more complex grammar and varied vocabulary, a
synergy of prose and image force students to engage in their critical visual praxis to interpret
what is not described, but is illustrated. “So the words tell us things that the pictures omit, and
the pictures tell us things about which the words are silent…neither the words nor the pictures
could tell the story alone” (Sipe, 2008, p. 26). Finally, the increasing literary value of images and
content posits student in position to question traditional/folk/hegemonic notions of the discipline
and world around them.
Masculinity:
Van der Kleij, C., & Naik, S. (2011, March 6). Chut! Ne dis
rien à Maman et Papa! http://storybird.com/books/chut-
papa-et-maman-dorment/?token=qp5n5y
Summary: This amateur creation follows a growing boy
with a grand imagination. He explores his surroundings
with great wit and zeal trying to save the day just like his
favorite crime-fighting superheroes. His life is quote
normal: plays sports, studies at school and has fun with his
dog. But one thing makes him different: he sneaks out at
night because he does not want his parents knowing his
secret identity as a superhero.
CEFR: B1-B2
Pedagogical implication: Its extremely varied verbal
structure makes students aware of how to express emotion,
past actions, present hypotheses, etc. The images use darker

and richer color to emote more and shift more agentive
power onto the reader for interpretation and plot
reproduction. Here, students encounter folk notions of
masculinity because of the insistence of the boy trying to
save the day on his own without asking for help. Student
might begin to question size and color use as it relates to
depiction of male adolescence.
Sendak, M. (1967). Max et les maximonstres. Paris: L’école des
loisirs.
Summary: Max loves dressing in his wolf costume, but
refuses to take it off to eat dinner. He is sent to his room
where his own secondary world is filled with monsters and
ghouls known as “Wild Things”. Max becomes the leader
of the “Wild Things” pack and discovers a world filled with
overwhelming amounts of play.
CEFR: A2-B1
Pedagogical implication: Students are challenged when
reading this text because much of the textual information is
found in the images. Students can discuss anything from
masculine play environments to how emotion is
represented with recourse to traditional forms of
masculinity.

Ramos, M. (2002). C'est moi le plus fort. Paris: L’école des loisirs.
Summary: An amusing story of a wolf who is sure that he is the
strongest, most fearsome creature in the woods. Out for a stroll, he
asks all the other creatures, “who is the strongest?”. One by one,
they all respond “you are!”, until he meets what appears to be a
kind of toad, who has an interesting mother.
CEFR: B1-B2
Pedagogical implication: Students here must envision themselves
as part of the story and delineate most of the action. They must
circumvent any language issues by relying on the images. The
subject content also breaks with traditions notions of masculinity
and begins to show a female character who explains masculine
strength differently then the wolf knows.
Femininity:
Bemelmans, L., & Poslaniec, C. (1985). Madeleine. Paris: L'école
des loisirs.
Summary: This book shows students into a world of 1930s
Paris. It follows Madeleine a girl orphaned and boards with
other female students and nuns in a Catholic school.
Despite a girlish energy, Madeleine falls ill and must be
rushed to the hospital. She comes back healed and ready to
play again.
CEFR: A2-B1

Pedagogical implication: Students engage in discussion
about femininity and girls at play. The dangerously colorful
images allow students to describe the characters, but also
the environment within which they are contained. Simple
lexical choices and grammar structures allow students to
make broader implications of women in French literature as
they differ from books where male characters are
forefronted.
Robertson, A., & Garbielle, K. (2011, August 8). Fifi.
http://storybird.com/books/fifi/?token=wpf939
Summary: “Fifi” follows its namesake character and her
friend Sylvie. The girls do everything together. They share
similar interests and stories. Fifi and her friend like ice
cream, ballet and theatre. She likes going to the park for a
picnic with her friends after they practice with their band.
Unfortunately, however, one thing makes Fifi different
from her friend—she can’t roller skate.
CEFR: A2-B1
Pedagogical implication: This story provides students a
look into hegemonic views of young women in society.
Neither girl is ever drawn unkempt, nor are they ever found
doing anything unexpected for a girl to do. Students must
use more and more description in order to explain why each

girl exhibits traditional lore of femininity because both the
text and images are scarce.
Kemp, A., & Ogilvie, S. (2013). La pire des princesses.
Toulouse: Milan jeunesse.
Summary: Princesses are supposed to be pretty, fragile and
sweet. They wear jewels and crows and dresses. But, that’s
not like Zélie. She dreams of adventure and fighting
dragons instead of being perfectly royal.
CEFR: B1-B2
Pedagogical implication: Students read this book as it
presents femininity is not always about beauty or
cleanliness. They must surmise character emotion and
interaction because the images are so vivid and the text
falling short of detail.
Queer studies/sexuality:
Lenain, T., & Durand, D. (1998). Mademoiselle Zazie a-t'elle
un zizi ? Paris: Nathan jeunesse.
Summary: For Max, the world is made up of those with a “zizi”
and those without. And of course its those with a “zizi” that are
better and superior to those without. But Zazie, a new student, is
better at most activities than Max. Does she have a “zizi”? And for
that matter, does a “zizi” really mean you have power over others?
CEFR: B1-B2

Pedagogical implication: Here students are challenged to posit
masculinity and femininity, as well as the folk notions thereof,
against each other. Images are static and present both boys and
girls indifferent perspectives as to question what is strictly
masculine and what is strictly feminine. The conversations draw
students to express opinions and exercise questions and debate.
Many different oral and written structures must be used in order
for students to prove their ideas and arguments.
Haquet, A., & Larchevêque, L. (2014). La princesse qui n'aimait
pas les princes. Arles, France: Actes Sud junior.
Summary: It is customary for a princess to marry a prince. Each
time a prince approaches her, however, she turns them away. She
really does not care to be kissed by a prince. Instead, she wants to
marry another princess.
CEFR: B2-C1
Pedagogical implication: In this tale, students look into their own
view of sexuality and what it means to love someone of the same
gender. They must argue about how the princess and
homosexuality is represented by a character in a position of
(political) power. Verbal forms and descriptions of character
become much more detailed than before and demonstrate great
leaps in visual literacy.

Boutignon, B. (2014). Tango a deux papas, et pourquoi pas ?
Paris: Le baron perché.
Summary: In the French version of “And Tango Makes
Three”, reader follows the mating of two male penguins in
the Central Park Zoo. Both penguins are just like the others,
except they do not love female penguins. They fall for each
other. The story watches as the penguins meet, raise a
child, and eventually break up.
CEFR: B2
Pedagogical implication: Students must challenge their
views on traditional, heterosexual parenting and how the
development of the baby comes to pass.
Tan, S. (2010). L'arbre rouge. (A. Krief, Trans.). Paris: Gallimard
jeunesse. (Original work published 2001)
Summary: The unnamed protagonist battles sadness and loneliness.
Readers follow “her” into “her” imagination and secondary world.
With fantastic images in many different worlds, the protagonist
shows readers how to create play even while feeling alone.
CEFR: B2-C1
Pedagogical implication: The protagonist is left genderless (i.e.
unlabeled as male or female) as students follow the plot. As times
passes in this secondary world, readers are presented with
androgyny and emotion and sexuality. How do we express
ourselves? Do we gender emotion and thought and creative

expression? With dazzling colors and stunning prose, students
create their own version and opinion about what it means to emote
and the implications it has on gender and sexuality.
Rationale—Text set 3: “Classic” French literature
As a final text set to a very innovative and daring secondary French curriculum, students
now have full command of their additional language. They are familiar with many different types
of illustrated media and texts as well as having a deep understanding of the language itself. Here,
student ought to be presented with texts without any prose or close to it. These extremely
advanced readers will have familiarity with many famous French authors and literary traditions
and will be able to handle a fully illustrated form of literacy, like graphic novels. “Reading these
dissimilar formats on related topics helps kids discover how prose and graphic novels can tell the
same story differently while evaluating the pros and cons of each medium” (Jaffe, 2013, p. 6).
Thus, student will know the general plot for the traditional format and will be able to compare
the merits and disservices of different media.
Engaging students in this way allows teachers to prepare students for more in depth
literary analysis at the university level. Jaffe also argues that “[r]eading paired prose and graphic
novel texts better reinforces memory of content material, as readers create both verbal and visual
memory paths and associations…Comparing prose and graphic novels provides insight into two
very different literary formats, leading to discussions on use of dialogue vs. image vs.
sentence/paragraph chapter development. Thus the reader gains a deeper understanding and
appreciation of various literary styles, formats, and text structures” (p. 8). Here students must
discuss much more than the plot points or characters themselves; they become co-authors in how
the stories diverge from the original and popular texts.

Adapted literature, therefore, “emasculate[s] the classics, condense[s] them (leaving out
everything that makes the book great), [is] just as badly printed and inartistically drawn
…and…do[es] not reveal to children the world of good literature which has at all times been the
mainstay of liberal and humanistic education. [It] conceal[s] it” (Wertham, 2004, p. 55). The text
set below challenges Wertham’s assertion because it juxtaposes students to have an opinion of
what defines “classic” literature. By presenting students with new formats, they become more
reliant on interpretation of images to create a secondary world in the primary one. Now, students
finally have the oral and written skill to demonstrate expression and recognition of motif and
theme where they debate topics regarding sociocultural knowledge via literature in an academic
manner.
Camus, A., & Munoz, J. (2012). L'étranger. Paris:
Futuropolis-Gallimard.
Summary: “L’étranger” follows an ambivalent Meursault after the
death of his mother. He cannot seem to find joy in anything. After
vacationing with his lover and some friends, he finds himself
blinded by the sun and as the murder of an Algerian Arab. The
novel continues with his trail and his thoughts on life and equality
to every citizen, French or otherwise.
CEFR: B2-C1
Pedagogical implication: Students engage with the literary absurd
in order to express and explain what happens to Meursault. They
also must engage with French popular views of colonializing of
Northern Africa as it unfolds in the 1930s.

de Saint-Exupéry, A., & Sfar, J. (2010). Le petit prince: D'après
l'œuvre d'Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin.
Summary: This book follows the narrator on his journey to
different worlds after his shipwreck. He encounters a child who
reminds him of himself when he was younger always questioning
the authority of adult ideas and opinions. Both hop from planet to
planet in search of what it means to create, love, live, mature and
imagine.
CEFR: B2-C1
Pedagogical implication: “Le petit prince” is beloved in many
different countries in over 250 languages. Considered the most
famous French text of the twentieth century, this new editions
reimagines the plot in a new way with more depiction of the
narrator adding a new dimension of the story. Students will grapple
with how this change corrupts the original work while still
benefiting the new one. In dealing with the literary absurd, as
throughout this text set, students will draw on intrinsic detail in
order to define the whimsy of childhood, position masculinity and
inquiry in combination and reinvent each world visited by le Petit
Prince.

Morvan, J., Mousse, M., & Vian, B. (2012). L'écume des jours. Paris:
Delcourt.
Summary: Colin and Chloé are in love and just got married. They
are perfect together after having found on another except for one
major issue. Chloé is dying of a diseased lung. Colin must take
care of her as both of their worlds collapse. As absurdity engulfs
their worlds, colors and sizes distort engaging their reader’s own
secondary world.
CEFR: C1-C2
Pedagogical implication: Here students must explain how this
story invites literary analysis and serves as an allegory for the
primary world. As the storyline complicates so must the use of
language on the part of the student in description of character
development, literary value and potential relation to other famous
French texts and authors and literary styles.
Lacombe, B., & Perrot, J. (2010). Il était une fois. Paris: Seuil
jeunesse.
Summary: This book reimagines fairytales. Each page only
depicts one pivotal scene from classic fairytales like Peter
Pan, Pinocchio and Alice in Wonderland. There are no
words so readers are left to reimagine or recreate what
happens before, during and after what is illustrated. The
best part of this story is its multimodality: images pop out.
Readers feel that they are in the text and not just reading it.

CEFR: C1
Pedagogical implication: Lacombe and Perrot entice
readers to reimagine classic fairytales and fables in this pop
up book of fantasy. Each page leaps out breaking the fourth
wall and has students jumping into the stories themselves.
Using only images, students are positioned as authors in
order to reconstruct the text itself. The deep and dark colors
solidify the theme of the literary absurd as characters hide
and glare while readers interpret the context in new ways.

References
Benton, M. (1992). Secondary worlds. In Secondary worlds: Literature teaching and the visual
arts (pp. 22-36). Philadelphia: Open University Press.
Common European Framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment.
(2014). http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Framework_EN.pdf.
Jaffe, M. (2013). Raising a reader!: How comics & graphic novels can help your kids love to
read!. New York, NY: Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
Lewison, M., Leland, C., Flint, A. S., & Möller, K. J. (2002). Dangerous discourses: Using
controversial books to support engagement, diversity, and democracy. New Advocate,
15(3), 215-226.
Low, D. E. (2012). “Spaces Invested with Content”: Crossing the ‘Gaps’ in Comics with Readers
in Schools. Children's Literature in Education, 43(3), 368-385.
Myers, C. (2014, March 15). The Apartheid of Children’s Literature.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/opinion/sunday/the-apartheid-of-childrens-
literature.html?_r=0
Sanders, J. S. (2013). Chaperoning words: Meaning-making in comics and picture books.
Children’s Literature 41, 57-90.
Siegel, M. (2006). Rereading the signs: Multimodal transformations in the field of literacy
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on What?" English Journal, 91-111.
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Appendix A

EDUC681 Final Project

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