Click Click Click!: Photography for Children
After tracing the history of the photographic process, discussing a few famous pictures, and highlighting a number of giants in the field like Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Dorothea Lange, acclaimed nonfiction writer Sullivan spends the rest of the book doling out the tips, techniques, and advice that young shutterbugs likely came for. Keeping things beginner friendly, Sullivan sidesteps the technical side of how proper exposures involve the interlocking relationship between aperture, shutter speed, and ISO and simply tells readers to use their cameras’ built-in preset settings (the assumption is that readers are using digital cameras). He gives cogent advice on framing shots creatively, finding dramatic lighting, and editing with computer software. He also talks about the different challenges associated with different photographic goals, from sports and landscape shots to portraits and candids. Both informative and approachable, this is a great resource to get kids interested in stretching beyond a point-and-shoot mentality. Grades 5-8. --Ian Chipman