Hi, Jill. I agree that very young children would have trouble reading for themselves. I should have been more clear on what I'm working on. I'm working on books meant for first, second, and third grade readers who may have access to Bookshare due to the new education grant. Braille literacy is so important, and I want our young readers to have high-quality copies of books to read that will help them practice their reading skills. Their teachers and/or parents could help them download the books, and I'm told that many schools provide Pacmates and BrailleNotes to young students in resource rooms and such. My group of girls is focusing on books from the Accellerated Reading lists which are divided up into grade levels. Students are often given a choice of reading several books from a certain grade level. I want our Bookshare students to have as much choice as sighted kids do. I don't really know how many kids will actually use these books. I'd like them to be there though so we can let teachers know that Bookshare can help students of all ages.
Monica Willyard Jill O'Connell wrote:
For what it's worth, I think books for very young children would have to be read by blind parents because the books would be in grade II braille and I don't think little ones would appreciate reading in synthetic speech. And if I'm right, I don't think really young children who are sighted would appreciate a book without pictures, even if there were written descriptions, and I doubt if they were blind the written descriptions pictures would mean much to them. I know this sounds negative and it is why I have never been enthusiastic about children's books where pictures are so important. I know of at least two sources where books have both braille, print and the pictures with their descriptions which I consider to be far more appropriate for young children. Bookshare doesn't need to try to fill every niche in my opinion. I'm expecting a lot of opposition to this opinion, however.----- Original Message ----- *From:* Jamie Yates, CPhT <mailto:jamieyates@xxxxxxxxxxx> *To:* bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> *Sent:* Monday, November 12, 2007 3:07 PM *Subject:* [bksvol-discuss] Re: Describing Pictures In Children's Books And sometimes, too, Cindy, you don't know a person's ethnicity just from their color. Not all people who are black are "African-American".I ask myself the same questions all of the time when I have achildren's book, Cindy. I could easily spend more time describing pictures than scanning or proofing the rest of the book. How much is enough? How much is too much? I don't think I've ever stated the color of the people in a picture before because I usually feel like it's not important. But Ann (I think it was Ann) made a good point about that being important information.And Lissi made a good point about the descriptions being at thesame reading level as the book. I've never considered that before. Jamie in Michigan Currently Reading - Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife by Irene Spencer With Skype you can make free calls over the Internet. Skype -- the whole world can talk for free <http://www.dpbolvw.net/email-1683725-10386659?sid=Email110907> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.30/1126 - Release Date: 11/12/2007 12:56 PM
