For six months when I was in college, I did a study abroad at an acting conservatory in London. This was a complete break. I was studying mostly poetry and mostly medieval poetry in college, and I decided, I need to – I need to get out of theory and come in contact with the literature in a different way.
And the most important class I took there was a voice class. There was something my voice teacher told that I’ve always remembered, and I don’t know whether this is true. It feels a little like pop psychology. But there are kind of three levels of voice, three levels of human connection, and there is one, just alone.
And sort of just that sphere closed around you. And I think we can all sense when people are in that. There is a level of connection that’s one-to-one, and there’s a level of connection that’s one-to-many. And corollary to that is – she said that most people are only good at two of those three levels of connection.
I think books also work on that way. Picture books also work on that way. There are picture books that are one alone, that are just meant to be open on a kid’s lap and that kid is paging through. There are picture books that work best one on one. You know, maybe the kid is on your lap, and you’re reading the book, or it’s a bedtime book, and it’s sort of a quieter moment. The pictures may be more detailed and encourage spending time really poring over them. The trim size is smaller.
And then there are those books that are one-to-many books, and you’re holding them up, and they work well in front of a classroom. I think unlike people, there are some books that are great at all three. A good picture book doesn’t have to be great at all three, but some books do work on all three levels of connection.