Using Picture Books in Middle School Classrooms

A rich, often overlooked, resource for middle school curriculum and instruction is The Picture Book.  No, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders are not “too old” to be captivated by a story of only 32 to 48 pages. Not to mention the visual power of the illustrations. 

            Just a Dream and Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A message from Chief Seattle capture powerfully the crisis of climate change and the call to action as stewards of the Earth: The Power of One (multiplied by millions) to make a difference.

These picture books stand as environmental classics as timely today as ever.

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Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg -----

In Just a Dream Chris Van Allsburg warns about the destruction to the Earth from careless indifference.

Walter could care less about the environment.  He litters on the way home from the bakery and throws all trash items in one bin. He mocks Rose, his neighbor, for planting a tree for her birthday. For his birthday he is not getting “a dumb plant.”

Excited about the future, Walter imagines a robotic world until he falls asleep that night and travels to a nightmarish future. He dreams about a terrifying future where neighborhoods become landfills, where traffic clogs freeways and horns honk throughout the night, and where trees are cut down to be made into toothpicks.

In the morning Walter wakes up, a changed boy.  The message is clear: What we do as individuals has collective consequences for the Earth.

Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A message from Chief Seattle -----

Sometime in the 1850s Chief Seattle of the Pacific Northwest gave what can be considered the first environmental speech.  The book is his speech.

It began: How can you buy the sky?   How can you own the wind?

Wisely Native Americans asked: “How does this decision affect the next seven generations?” They passionately practiced the belief that this Earth and every creature on it is sacred, to be cared for and protected.

Stewards of the land. Not owners.