The Kamishibai Classroom: Engaging Multiple Literacies Through the Art of "Paper Theater"
• Is written by a teacher, literacy researcher, artist, and storyteller, who is fluent in Japanese, has lived in Japan for more than five years, and has studied with Japanese illustrators and kamishibai practitioners• Offers educators a concrete, hands-on approach for developing narratives through multiple literacies in a way that will appeal to even the most reluctant learners• Shows how kamishibai provides a unique bridge to the reading and writing process, while also building confidence and a sense of community through interactive performance before a live audience• Explores the potential of kamishibai and its multiple applications for teaching literacy in the classroom that includes, but extends far beyond, its current use as a colorful way to introduce Japanese culture and folklore to American students• Includes original narratives with suggestions for how to incorporate them into hands-on workshops• Offers a pictorial history of kamishibai and how it evolved out of various etoki (picture-storytelling) traditions in Japan• Presents more than 160 original illustrations and drawings• Provides an appendix with instructions for how to make kamishibai stages from readily available, recycled materials