PictureBook Plays

“The arts are, above all, the special language of children, who, even before they learn to speak, […]

I excitedly ordered the hard-to-find children’s book, Sam Pig at the Theatre, part of a British series. Alas, that’s the last time I trust Amazon’s claim of age range. It is not for children 2-4. In fact, I’d likely read it to a five or six year old. It does, however, […]

If your child has never been to the theater, I recommend starting with a local children’s theater performed by either adults or children. In fact, theater performed by children can be the best introduction for your young child. You may not enjoy sitting through Alice in Wonderland as interpreted by 8 year olds, […]

I discovered this easy-to-read article about the benefits of arts education, specifically, in early childhood education. Here’s a pertinent excerpt:
A Harris Poll taken in 2005 measured American’s attitudes toward arts education and found that an astounding 93% agreed that the arts are a vital part of a well-rounded education, while 86% believed that children’s […]

If you’re just stepping into this blog, you should start by reading Parts I and II.
4. So then I thought, “What if I combine improvisation with an actual storyline?” This idea was appealing because it cut out the “rehearsal” step but still created a play with a beginning, middle, and end. I […]

If you’re just stepping into this blog, you may want to start by reading Where did PictureBook Plays come from? Part I.
Every week at Chicago Children’s Museum, I had a willing group of children ready to play pretend, act out a story, and just have fun.  They ranged in age from pre-language toddlers through 12 […]

My first step towards creating PictureBook Plays began right out of college. As your typical starving artist working part-time at Starbucks, I also got hired to work as an actor at The Children’s Museum, Boston (now known as The Boston Children’s Museum). They have a fantastic theatre exhibit where children watch and participate […]

One of the things that actors use regularly to place themselves within the context of a play is Guided Imagery or Visualization.  It works great with little kids too. Try this with children ages three and up (you can try with two year olds as well, but it may be difficult to accomplish with […]

Few people realize that theatre is full of rhythmic moments: the action can be fast or slow, characters speak at different moments, sound effects like clocks and birds create shifts within the scene. You can see it in the picture books you read: compare the rhythm of Caps For Sale with Good Night Moon. […]