Shadows and Reflections

t.hoban's books are very unique in the sense that they offer a very open ended translation about what the reader is looking at. in this particular book, the photographs allow the parent reading with the child to discuss each picture, the shadows and the reflections as opposed to just reading given text in front of you. i think this allows a good learning dialogue between parent/instructor and child. another scenario is that t.hobans books allow the child that looks through the book on their own to find their own ideas about each photo. in my teaching experience some children who showed no interest in books were just drawn to books with actual photos but often they were hard to find on a kindergarten level. my 3 yr old daughter has been "reading" t.hoban books since she was 1 1/2 and has always enjoyed the actual photography as a nice change. she also likes finding new and different things to talk about each time we pick up the book and most importantly has always been able to apply something from a t.hoban book to a real life experience. yes, the books are a bit different from the norm but they also offer us a way to teach our children and our children to learn in a way a bit different from the norm.