Abstract: The narrative function of children’s picture books connects the exquisite, meaningful and colorful paintings with easy and imaginative words. A teaching process, which is called the circulation process, happens when teachers and children are reading the pictures and words repeatedly. This process involves four stages: lead-in, telling the story, retelling the story and utilizing the retold story. Teacher may understand children’s knowledge, cognitive features as well as nature of picture books and paintings effectively. Then the vivid illustration of story line encourages children to think from others’ views and communicate with different people in the world. In such a way, we aim to establish a brand new teaching culture consisted of national memory and traditional Chinese culture elements.
Keywords: Children‘s picture book, writing, notes

摘要（ Jing Xiang & Ying Yan: 阅读和表达的相互促进：关于对I Wanna Iguana的儿童图画书的研究）：儿童图画书的叙事功能是将精美的，富于表现力的和色彩丰富的图画与简洁而具有想象力的文字结合在一起。当老师和孩子们反复阅读图片和文字时，就会产生一种被称为循环过程的教育过程。这一过程分为四个阶段：介绍，讲述故事，重述故事以及使用重述的故事。教师可以有效地了解孩子的知识，认知特性以及图画书和绘画的性质。而后，故事生动的描述将会激励孩子从他人的视角去思考，并与世界上不同的人进行交流。通过这种方式，我们希望建立一种全新的教学文化，她由民族记忆和中国传统文化的要素所组成。
关键词：儿童图画书，书写，记录
摘要（ Jing Xiang & Ying Yan: 閱讀和表達的相互促進：關於對I Wanna Iguana的兒童圖畫書的研究）：兒童圖畫書的敘事功能是將精美的，富於表現力的和色彩豐富的圖畫與簡潔而具有想像力的文字結合在一起。當老師和孩子們反复閱讀圖片和文字時，就會產生一種被稱為循環過程的教育過程。這一過程分為四個階段：介紹，講述故事，重述故事以及使用重述的故事。教師可以有效地了解孩子的知識，認知特性以及圖畫書和繪畫的性質。而後，故事生動的描述將會激勵孩子從他人的視角去思考，並與世界上不同的人進行交流。通過這種方式，我們希望建立一種全新的教學文化，她由民族記憶和中國傳統文化的要素所組成。
關鍵詞：兒童圖畫書，書寫，記錄

Zusammenfassung (Jing Xiang Ying Yan: Gegenseitige Förderung des Lesens und des Ausdrucks: Forschung zur Kinderbilderbuch-Lehre von I Wanna Iguana): Die erzählerische Funktion von Kinderbilderbüchern verbindet die exquisiten, aussagekräftigen und farbenfrohen Bilder mit einfachen und phantasievollen Worten. Ein pädagogischer Prozess, der als Zirkulationsprozess bezeichnet wird, findet statt, wenn LehrerInnen und Kinder die Bilder und Wörter wiederholt lesen. Dieser Prozess umfasst vier Stufen: Einführen, Erzählen der Geschichte, Nacherzählen der Geschichte und Nutzung der nacherzählten Geschichte. Der Lehrer/die Lehrerin kann das Wissen der Kinder, die kognitiven Eigenschaften sowie das Wesen von Bilderbüchern und Gemälden effektiv verstehen. Dann regt die lebendige Illustration der Geschichte die Kinder dazu an, aus der Sicht anderer zu denken und mit verschiedenen Menschen in der Welt zu kommunizieren. Auf diese Weise wollen wir eine ganz neue Lehrkultur etablieren, die aus dem nationalen Gedächtnis und Elementen der traditionellen chinesischen Kultur besteht.
Schlüsselwörter: Kinderbilderbuch, Schreiben, Notizen

Резюме(Джинг Ксянг, Джинг Ян: О взаимных векторах мотивации к чтению и изложению прочитанного: изучение практики обучения на материале детской иллюстрированной книги «Я хочу себе игуану»): Нарративная функция детских иллюстрированных книг заключается в том, чтобы умело сочетать и использовать уникальные, яркие, выразительные картинки с обычными и фидейно-игровыми речевыми контекстами. Педагогический процесс, который носит циркуляционный характер, начинает реализовываться тогда, когда учителя и ученики обращаются к произведению – его текстовой и иллюстрационной составляющей – не однократно, в несколько «подходов». Данный процесс является четырехступенчатым: введение, рассказ истории, пересказ истории с последующим применением данного нарратива в определенных целях и дискурсах. Учитель должен уметь эффективно использовать фоновые знания учащихся, их когнитивные способности, правильно оценивать потенциал иллюстраций и других графических знаков. В этом случае иллюстрация, прилагаемая к той или иной истории, способна пробудить у детей интерес к коммуникации с разными людьми, причем не только в рамках своей культуры, она учит их «примерять» на себя разные роли и вживаться в них. Таким образом, мы можем говорить о становлении абсолютно новой культуры научения, которая формируется на основе национальной памяти и элементов традиционной китайской культуры.
Ключевые слова: детская иллюстрированная книга, письмо как речевой деятельности, записи

Introduction

Picture books are not only good at shaping and depicting the relationship between characters and social environment, but also contain rich elements such as emotional mood, aesthetic connotation and life care. An exquisite picture book will also reflect personal feelings, care for life, judgment of value and moral problems through the images and artistic conception of the writing creation, which not only shows the emotional world to young readers, but also has literary appeal and certain educational significance. Picture books with concise, short words give children enough space to imagine, so that children can get emotional and life inspiration. All the wonderful experiences of childhood will remain in the children’s heart in their whole life, and from time to time give them comfort and encouragement, which will become the eternal support of the soul.

(1) Children’s picture books. The children’s picture books are mainly composed of five parts: front cover, end paper, title page (fly page), text and back cover. It combines beautiful binding, unique picture of the title page and splendid frontispiece, which under the same theme to make the picture and text are perfectly unified and have a unique artistic expression. The narrative function of children’s picture books is accomplished by both pictures and words. The plot narration of picture books is mainly expressed by words to describe the progress of story time, and the emotional expression of picture books is mainly presented by the pictures which shows the category of story space.

These two parts interpret and mutually complement each other. When the picture is finished, the text is added to explain the picture, and when the text is finished, the picture is added after the text to improve the artistic conception of the text. Pictures and texts in children’s picture books have mutually beneficial functions. The main purpose of pursuing and presenting is to achieve the overall effect after the combination of texts. Because of the relationship between the pages turning of picture books, the suspense arranged by the author is often interesting, which also strengthens the interactive effect between teachers and children in the teaching process.

The children’s picture book I Wanna Iguana brings creativity and ingenuity to children by using the way of turning pages. Image details often contain mysterious details to pave the way for the story, laying down foreshadows for teachers and students to guess how the protagonist, Alex, solved the difficulties with the help of writing notes. The 12K version of this picture book is enough to satisfy the performance space and appropriate blank space required by the picture book. In this book, all pictures inherit the concise, exaggerated, deformed and grotesque performance characteristics of European and American paintings. Through the expressive power of painting and the imaginative space provided to readers, it greatly illustrates the visual effect brought by the artistic expressive power of painting. The refined and brief words in picture books give readers enough imagination space to narrate the same story together with exquisite, rich implication and sprightly paintings. It also gives children the desire and space to continue reverie and narrate their own stories.

For primary school students, only those works which can arouse students’ interest and have compact plots, vivid stories are suitable to use into the teaching of picture books. This books’ difficulty is slightly higher than the average reading level and comprehension ability of students. I Wanna Iguana is a 12K-sized comprehensive picture book with water-soluble lead and watercolor painting as the main form of paperback binding. The painter presents the whole story with water-soluble color lead and watercolor paintings. The picture is full and the brushwork is delicate and soft, the language is concise, exaggerated and grotesque. The warm tone highlighted in the yellow and purple color exactly depicts the situation where Alex, a little boy, communicates with his mother through strong reasoning by writing notes, which embodies a bi-directional communication form. This kind of communication form integrates expression (writing) and listening (reading), and has the characteristics of “reading, thinking, transferring and expressing words.” Teacher and students read the picture book I Wanna Iguana, listening to the story in the book can also help children to describe their own stories.

(2) Literature review of picture books. In China, the embryonic form of the early children’s picture books can be traced back to Diary Stories which published in Jiajing Period of Ming Dynasty (Zheng, 1936, p. 10). The top half of the page is illustrations and the other half is simple and understandable text. It consists of ancient Chinese stories about children such as the story of Sima Guang breaking the water vat to save a child and Wen Yanbo irrigating floating balls, which in order to inspire children’s mind and expand their thinking ability. Thereafter, countries around the world were trying to explore children’s hearts and potential through the picture books, and also interpreted the value and significance of picture books for children’s growth.

In the West, The Czech educator Johann Amos Comenius wrote Orbis Pictus in 1658 by using both pictures and words (Comenius, 1658). Other children’s books which have exerted important influence in this field include Kate Greenaway’s Under the Window in 1877 (Kate, 1877), Randolph J. Caldecott’s The Diverting History of John Gilpin in 1878 (Caldecott, 1953) and Beatris Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1901 (Beatrix, 1901). In 1988, Canadian Perry Nordlman provided theoretical support for picture books in his opus Words about Pictures：The Narrative Art of Children’s Picture Books (Perry, 1988). A famous Japanese educationist discussed the educational value of picture books for children’s growth in his book Picture book (Naoto, 2017). In the second half of the 20th century, the successive establishment of international awards, like Newbery Medal、Caldecott Medal、The Kate Greenaway Medal and Hans Christian Andersen Award, confirms the recognition and important status in education of children’s picture books in the world.

With the improvement of social economy, culture and consumption level, children enjoy a relatively superior material life. Meanwhile, they also have to face the unique difficulties and hardships from the utilitarian era and examination-oriented education. Accompanied by the rapid development of color printing technology, the society’s understanding of childhood and children has gradually deepened, which has led to a fundamental change in educational concepts. It calls for high-quality art and thoughtful words which could help children understand the environment in which they live and the path they want to take in the future.

Just as the picture book Snail Express which illustrated by Xiong Lei and Xiong Liang conveys childhood feelings, interests, warmth, tolerance and role’s beliefs and perseverance to children and stays in their hearts (Xiong, 2003). Another picture book Little Stone Lion also depicts a childhood memory which came out in the noisy world, the prosperous network and the rushed life (Xiong, 2007). In addition, Lin Haiyin and Zheng Mingjin’s Come to My Hometown shoulder the globalization responsibility of knowing their own national history and relations with other countries (Lin, 2017). Also, the picture book Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear which written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Barbara Firth, revealed warmth and fraternity (Martin, & Barbara, 2008). The British Rose tells us about the communication and mutual recognition between girls (Madonna, 2003). Milly and Molly Series of picture books by New Zealand writer Jill Pittar and Cris Morrell also warmed the hearts of many children (Pittar, 2014). We should not lose the picture book which is the key to bringing you back to childhood, even if reality is muddy in the future. It tries to help children to face various problems in real life, and then build a happy and confident outlook on life. Children’s picture books go beyond simply writing about a poetic childhood. They also try to reflect the relationship between children and the world around them (including adults), and describe the influence of the world on children and the children’s response to the world. This kind of deep writing has expanded from “childhood life” to “childhood humanity.” It gives children humane care and shows the strength and breadth of childhood, which naturally reaches a certain depth.

Method

I Wanna Iguana is a picture book which is worth reading slowly and carefully with children by adults. Only after reading the pictures and words repeatedly can we understand its artistic conception, experience its lingering charm and interpret the power implied under the gentle words. The specific teaching process involves four stages: lead-in, telling the story, retelling the story and utilizing the retold story. The teacher and student learns about the way of communication between students and their parents, and introduces this communication into the teaching of stories. With the help of the characteristics about page turning of picture book, the troubles and difficulties are presented, suspense is set to guide children to guess and associate with the story, and then relay how to get out of the troubles and realize their wishes. By re-reading the story, we can summarize and conclude the content of mother and child’s notes, understand the value of writing notes for parent-child communication and interpersonal communication, and then study to write words and help children try to stand on the other side to communicate with others and the world.

(1) Background. The national seminar of primary school children’s reading was held in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province from December 7 to 9. On this day, a senior teacher from Suzhou participated in this meeting which gathered hundreds of primary and secondary school teachers from various cities and counties. On a cold winter morning, fifty children in the third grade of the Jiangxi Normal University affiliated primary school and many teachers were listening to the story I Wanna Iguana which was written by Karen Kaufman Orloff and illustrated by David Catrow. Because the lecturer is not only a special Chinese language teacher in Jiangsu Province, but also an advocate of children’s reading, she has devoted herself to the research of children’s reading teaching for a long time and acted as a promoter of “the whole book reading by both teachers and students,” which makes this picture book reading-writing course more worthy of acceptance and description. In particular, the process that teachers and children narrate the picture book I Wanna Iguana together try to make children learn to listen to others rationally and establish a brand new life on the basis of knowing their world.

The third grade belongs to the middle-grade stage of primary school. At this stage, students have mastered the way of writing notes, which paves the way for the preliminary perception of the writing form of notes involved in the picture book I Wanna Iguana. Some notes with wonderful dialogues between mother and son are embedded in this unique picture book: the protagonist, Alex, is exaggerated to look like a little old man, holding a big iguana at his waist. The Iguana is a reptile somewhat resembling a dragon. It’s a kind of giant lizard, up to 1.8-3 meters in length and weighing about 60-130 kilograms. Its skin is rough and there are many bumps on the body. This seemingly ugly combination, however, belies the the little boy Alex’s coquetry, self-praise, avoidance, and solemn assurance. Under the mother’s witty and humorous words, it also resolves the conflict between mother and son, bridges the gap between demands and reality, and unconsciously makes readers happy about the ugly combination. After listening to this picture book, readers cannot help admiring this kind of sweet and intimate parent-child communication. The exaggerated characters and strong color contrast in this picture book makes the original story more personalized.

(2) Instructional design. Alex, the little boy in the story, suddenly wants to raise an iguana. He knew that it was impossible to get his mother’s consent to raise an iguana in a normal way. So he persuades his mother with notes one after another. Mother and son writes notes to each other. Alex talks to her mother for firm and legitimate reasons, and his mother responds calmly. Both are full of reason and wisdom. Finally, the mother and son reach an agreement and have a happy ending by making a concession and respecting each other.

This story provides a good communication mode, which is note communication. By telling stories, students realize that learning to listen, understand and respect others’ opinions is the key to having successful communication. The Chinese Curriculum Standard (2011 edition) issued by China’s Ministry of Education puts forward the general goal of the Chinese curriculum, “In all kinds of communication activities, learn to listen, express and communicate, initially learn to communicate civilly with others and society, and develop the spirit of cooperation.” This reading-writing course of I Wanna Iguana is in response to this goal and this topic also has a strong practical significance. Children have strong self-awareness. In their communication with their parents and others, they often use “playing tricks,” “commanding tone” and “harassing parents with unreasonable demands” to ignore other people’s feelings while only paying attention to their own demands.

In the design of this lesson, when narrating the story, we use the forms of listening to the teacher, guessing and verifying pictures and reading notes in turn by teacher and student, conforming to the original structure and rhythm of the picture book, avoiding trivial questions and answers, and enhancing the appeal of the story. Rereading the story and summarizing Alex’s communication skills constitute a certain degree of difficulty for students in this period, but this difficulty is the value of this lesson, that is, with the help of this story, the students can understand what they had never thought of before. The serial communication mode provided by the story makes students enjoy reading and utilizing it more frequently when students try to communicate with their parents, friends and classmates by writing notes, and also learn to listen to others and express themselves rationally. Its significance is far beyond the skill itself of teaching students to write notes.

Case study

At the beginning of the class, the children are presented with a familiar picture of life, a little boy about three years old lying on the ground, his two eyes staring at the adults around him, trying to “play tricks” to achieve his goals. At this time, a woman teacher with straight hair and shawl kindly asks, “Have you ever used this method to get what you want?” All the students who have been asked said that they had used this method before. However, with the growth of age, they no longer use this method to achieve their goals. Then the teacher raises another question, “If you have an expectation in mind, and you want your parents’ consent to this matter, what will you usually do?” A student said that he would get good grades through exams to talk to his parents and get what he wanted; another student said that he gets his parents’ favor mainly by flattering. When the words “flattering” blurt out, some of his classmates laugh secretly, some laugh heartily, some closed their eyes and covered their mouths, as if immersed in a similar situation. There are also students who do housework in exchange for what they want; there are also students who lock themselves up in the room and do not eat to win the sympathy of their parents by threatening. Next, let’s go into the picture book I Wanna Iguana and see how little boy Alex used to persuade his mother to let him have a big iguana.

Opening the first page, we see a smiling little boy holding a huge iguana at his waist, which seems to herald a comic ending to the story. However, at the beginning of the picture book there is a dreamlike purple background. Through the window, we can see that the curtain with red and orange stripes on the grey-white background is half open. A little boy with his hands on his cheeks and lips closed, he looks sadly and stares at the rain on the glass outside the window. In the picture, we can see that the clouds floating in the distance seem to be the sadness of the boy’s heart. The windows are inlaid in the blue framed house with yellow as the main color, and the color of the house gives a slight chill. The house is surrounded by lush green and yellow-green vegetation, all of these things implies the troubles of golden childhood. The little boy is Alex, the protagonist of the story. He wants to raise a big iguana, but he knows clearly that if he talks directly to his mother, she won’t agree. So he looks out the window at the rain and stares blankly for a while. Suddenly, he seems inspired and writes a note to his mother.

Dear Mom,

I know you don’t think I should have Mikey Gulligan’s baby iguana when he moves, but here’s why I should. If I don’t take it, he goes to Stinky and Stinky’s dog, Lurch, will eat it. You don’t want that to happen, do you?

Signed,

Your sensitive son,

Alex

Alex’s note expresses his desire to keep the iguana for fear that it would be eaten. Mother refuses Alex’s request on the grounds that the dog Lurch would not get into the cage and eat the iguana, but there is a glimmer of hope in her words.

Dear Alex,

I’m very happy that you’re so compassionate, but I doubt that Stinky’s mother will let Lurch get into the iguana’s cage.

However, you did a really good job!

Love,

Mom

In order to catch the glimmer of hope in time, Alex writes a note to his mother and draws a large iguana on the note, besides which he writes a big “see” and a question mark and an exclamation mark.

Dear Mom,

Do you know that the iguana is so quiet and so cute; I think it would be cuter than a hamster!

Love,

Your adorable son

A note with a yellow-green iguana occupies almost half of the picture. Above the note, the little boy Alex pulls a long rope, at the end of the rope, there is a baby iguana, which is only a dime in size and is round and thick, and the big iguana painted on the note, as well as the signature of “Love” all show the children’s strong desire and sincere feelings. However, mother refuses Alex’s request for this big iguana is too ugly. The note with the poisonous spider in red and orange occupies another half of the space and the picture with the big iguana in the opposite picture reflects that the dialogue between the two sides will continue, and the problems that arise in front of Alex are endless.

Now we turn to the next page; there is a little boy whose hands on his cheeks and eyes closed half crawling on the ground toward a iguana with its head protruding from the mouth of a trophy beside him. Under the light purple background, Alex’s voice is written on a gray-and-white note.

Dear Mom,

You’ll never see the iguana. I’ll put its cage on the cabinet next to the soccer trophies in my room. Also, it’s a very small one; I bet you won’t even know it’s there.

Love and a zillion and one kisses,

Alex

Alex hides the iguana in order to avoid the iguana being abandoned when his mother sees it, Therefore, he explains his determination and perseverance in raising big iguana by continuing to write “love you” on the notes and give a zillion and one kisses to express his strong emotions. His mother also responded wisely and rationally, she said that iguana can grow to be over six feet long. Alex’s entire room would be stuffed to bursting, not to mention his cabinet.

Turning to the next page, time seems to pass through the scene of fifteen years later. A yellow sofa with red lines and blue vertical stripes is setting in the background of yellow and purple. Alex, who has grown up to be an adult with a beard, sits on the sofa with a thick book on his legs, a big iguana’s head around the sofa nestling on Alex’s right side. A cat with red and orange fur squatted on the back of the sofa, quietly accompanies Alex on his left side; the lamp next to the cat projects a soft luster. This situation makes children speculate about the content of Alex’s note.

Dear Mom,

It would take fifteen years for an iguana to grow that long. That’s what Mikey has told me. By then I was married and living in my own house probably.

Love,

Your smart and mature kid,

Alex

In a pale, yellow-green background, a tall priest was trying to read the Bible in his hand. On priest’s left-hand side, Alex, still young, is wearing an adult suit and a red-purple tie. The iguana on the priest’s right side seems to have grown up and wears a suit with a red-purple tie which is identical to Alex’s. This situation has caused children to be anxious to guess what the mother will write back.

Dear Alex,

If you had a six-foot-long reptile in your room, think about, which girl would want to marry you?

Love,

Your concerned mother

Alex still loves his mother but also sticks to his wishes, and writes notes strenuously for his wishes. He said that he did need a new friend! This iguana would be the right one he has been waiting for! Mother continues to show her love for her son and insists on her own attitude. At this time, the teacher invites a student to play Alex; the teacher plays the mother, and reads the dialogue between mother and son in different roles.

During the conversation Alex tries to prove that he is ready to raise a iguana, and eagerly states that he will learn the lesson that he once made a goldfish jump into spaghetti sauce, on the grounds that iguana don’t like spaghetti at all.

At this point, the picture presented to the children is as follows. In a soft yellow background, Alex’s head occupies almost a third of the picture, giving a weird and extremely exaggerated feeling. Spaghetti spit out from Alex’s mouth connects the noodles in a goldfish’s mouth, but the left in spoon proves that the iguana doesn’t like Italian noodles. Extremely exaggerated pictures also seem to herald an unusual response from mothers. She said that she would let Alexraise an iguana in a trial basis, yet, she wanted to know how Alex would takes good care of it.

Turning to the next page, we can see an image of this, a large, fat iguana stands with its legs together on the edge of a clear, pale blue swimming pool, and its slender arms open and sway up and down as if dancing. Not far away, beside the yellow-themed house and the yellow-green vegetation, a huge colorful sunshade shows Alex’s happy mood and future expectations together. The emotions and love between mother and son turn into picturesque and delicate strokes.

Dear Mom,

I would feed him every day (he just eats lettuce). And I would make sure he has plenty of water. I will clean his cage when he gets dirty.

Love,

Responsible Alex

P.S. What’s a trial basis?

Dear Alex,

A trial basis means that your Dad and I will see how you’re doing with him for a week or two, and then we’ll decide whether or not to let you continue to raise it. Please remember, Stinky and Lurch are waiting!

Love,

Mom

P.S. If you clean his cage as well as you clean your room, you’re in trouble.

If the dream purple symbolizes the longing of the future, what we see is little Alex half lying in a lavender sofa, facing a giant iguana which mouth filled with green lettuce, as if to say …

Dear Mom,

I am really sure to clean my room and the iguana’s cage. And, please listen to me, I will use my allowance to buy the lettuce. Which means how much can a baby iguana eat all the time?

Love,

Alex the financial wizard

The mother squats down to face her son and asks earnestly, “Are you sure you want to do that? Alex?” Alex raises his head and stares at his mother and says firmly, “Yes, Mom! I want to raise a lizard … please! ” So mother said to him, “Look on your cabinet. What’s it?”

A yellow circle of light follows Alex back to the room. He opens the door eagerly and is surprised to see a cage with a big iguana in it. Alex exclaims, “Wow! Thank you! Thank you!” At the same time, his puerile cheeks slowly burst into a brilliant smile.

Conclusion

The note communication provided in the picture book I Wanna Iguana can better reflect the importance of the event and show more parties’ opinions than oral expression. The carefully written sentences are conducive to wording or modifying or rewriting according to the reaction of the other side, avoiding the old Chinese saying of “one promise, one thousand gold.” It means that the words spoken out must not be changed. Written words can freely express such feelings as “dear” and “love you,” which are hard to say in Chinese people’s daily life, such as “I know you will not agree with me to raise a baby iguana” instead of saying “I want to raise an iguana” is enough to prove that trying to think from the other side is the premise of effective communication. Writing notes one by one is based on understanding what the other side wants to say and then speaking what the other side wants to hear. The changing signatures on the notes also reflect the confidence and responsibility of the writers.

In the era of electronic media, people generally tend to use computer typing, WeChat (a communication software in China), message and other shortcuts to communicate. Beautiful computer fonts and neat network symbols deprive the strength and personalized expression of writing. Children’s most authentic voice and the strongest emotions in their hearts are reflected in those skewed, different sizes and childish notes. The pen-point dances heartily on paper, express children’s wishes and demands in the changes of black and white handwriting, and express the voices of writers’ hearts. They all try to tell us that even in the 21st century of highly modern development, writing, an ancient and traditional way of communication, is still the most powerful means of mutual perception and understanding between people and the world. What’s more, Chinese characters and calligraphy are not only important symbols of Chinese civilization, but also important carriers to inherit it.

In fact, not only children, but many adults still don’t know how to assert a claim, how to ask, how to refuse, how to negotiate or how to communicate effectively. Writing not only teaches us to respect and understand with each other, but also lets us feel the interest of life and enrich our ideals in perseverance. Perhaps, in our childhood, we had a fantastic dream like “I Wanna Iguana,” but because our parents taught us to be “sensible,” “obedient,” to be “diligent” and “thrifty,” we can only suppress this “unrealistic” and “useless” desire, but lost our original enthusiasm for not following conformity. At present, there is an urgent need to guide children from “learning refuse” and “stick in the mud” to “how to get what we want” and “what to do when we want” which are full of rational and wise communication to understand others and the future world.

Guiding and supervising children to increase the study of “picture-based speech” to improve their ability to use and control language, thereby improving their lack of knowledge of the world, interpersonal and emotional communication. Effective communication and timely response do not have a fixed pattern. Only by listening, that is, understanding each other and the world, can we consider others in one’s own place and coexistence with the world and make a timely response. Only by guiding children with love, respect and understanding and enriching their childhood with wit and humor can adults and children gain a sense of fun and freedom; the stricter the adults are, the more moderate the children will be; the more the adults stick to some stereotypes and doctrines, the more children will lose a lot of childlike innocence and fun.

Now, with the spread of multiculturalism and globalization, how do we guide children to broaden their horizons, identify with their own culture and understand and hold different cultures at the same time? The internationalization becomes a view of knowing yourself as well as the others. Knowing one’s own, that is to know one’s own national history and culture well will ensure the value of one’s own life. Knowing others means presenting one’s own language and viewpoint as well as the national ritual and music by the language and words which others can understand. It does not try to become like others, but to present our differences in a way that others can understand. Therefore, internationalization seeks for meaning that others can understand. Also, art connects people with the world. Only by guiding children to read pictures and words can they see a world image full of cultural integration and without confrontations and wars. The real meaning of reading is not only to understand the literal meaning but also to grasp its core. It is embodied not only in understanding the rules expressed by words, but also in understanding the ideas behind the rules and the logic of their implementation. Only on the basis of national memory and cultural tradition can we compose a chapter of world culture based on picture books.

References

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About the Authors

Prof. Dr. Jing Xiang: Associate Professor, Jiangxi Normal University (CHN); Head of the general pedagogic subject “A Scientific Approach to the Living Space of Children in the City” (sponsored by the National Social Science Fund in 2017); e-mail: xiangjing2016@126.com

Ying Yan: Postgraduate of Elementary Education school Jiangxi Normal University (CHN); e-mail: yanying160809@126.com