Page Turns are all about setting the pace for your reader. In both fiction and informational picture books, page turns drive the narrative, pulling the reader through all the twists and turns of the story.
The effects of page turns are amplified in read-alouds. Since the target audience of most picture books are children too young to read, the text breaks give concrete instructions to the person reading aloud.
The age of your intended audience affects page turns, too.
· Toddlers need time to absorb the illustrations and need more time to gather in the words they are hearing, so each page can have action that is self-contained. One action follows another like beads on a string, rather than a moving stream.
· Babies need even less continuity, which is why even board book literary adaptations work like concept books, with only one or two words per page. Crack that book open to any page and the baby has as much story as he or she can handle.
The pace you set can leave openings for the questions and comments common to didactic reading, where the audience is pulled in for interaction. But didactic reading is not always appropriate, which leads us to consider voice and mood.
· If the mood of the story is dramatic, an accelerating pace, with “what’s-going-to-happen-next” builds suspense. Each page is a bit of a cliff-hanger or hints at what’s coming.
· If the mood is comical or purposefully over-the-top, a fast pace amplifies the silliness. Each page is an opportunity for either planting or payoff.
· If the mood is lyrical, page turns should provide smooth transitions that don’t break the flow of the language, and don’t invite interruption.
*as usual, for every great book that fits these patterns, there’s a great one that doesn’t, usually because the illustrations are carrying the page turn cues.
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