ABSTRACT
The dialogues described in this book take place with reference to a particular illustration. A page in a picturebook depicts a scene which forms the locus of attention between the two participants, and a starting-point for discussion. Described in the previous chapter is how these two adults typically view that scene. Selecting a feature or features of the tableau as a topic, these parents talk about them in a particular way. Their descriptions are frequently dedicated to issues of archetypal event interpretation and individual word meaning. How do people know that a (‘picnic’/‘camel’) is a (‘picnic’/‘camel’); because of the (‘food’/‘drink’; ‘hump’). The formula may be extended to ‘elephant’ (‘trunk’); ‘supermarket’ (‘trolley’); ‘cat’ (‘miaou’) and so on. What is not discussed is, for example, whether the dog scraps with the fox, or if the ants devour the food. As pointed out in the Introduction, children may learn about events of the real world from their reading, but equally they gain access to their parent’s (subjective) position with regard to that world. They gain access, that is, to parental values.
