Rating: 
Summary: Losing your imagination
Review: Losing your imagination Inside Picture Books is a descriptive non-fiction book that describes Ms. Spitz's opinion of children's books. This book thoroughly analyzes dozens of children's book, some more in depth than others. This book is intended for any adult that works with children. While Ms. Spitz, does use a high level of vocabulary, she is straightforward in her beliefs. She leaves very little room for questions on her feelings. I believe that Ms. Spitz over analyzes each of the books. She appears to have forgotten that for children, reading is purely for fun. I think the cover clearly depicts what the children's faces would look life if they understood the meaning of each book, as Ms. Spitz describes it. For example, while describing Love you Forever, Ms. Spitz states that the mother always thinks of her son as her infant, even while he is an adult. I believe that the book is just putting into very simple terms that no matter what you do, your mother will still love you. During the analysis of Willy the Wimp, Ms. Spitz clearly overanalyzes what is the tale of a chimpanzee becoming a stronger person. Ms. Spitz even takes it so far to see the name Willy as more than a name, but for a slang term. While reading Inside Picture Books, I discovered I had problems relating to the ideas given in it, because I had not read most of the books discussed. If you do decide to read the book, I recommend reading all the books mentioned before hand. Overall, I believe that this book would not be very useful to a teacher or to a parent, unless you want to loose your childhood imagination. JG
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Summary: Looking Way Too Hard Inside Picture Books
Review: Ms. Spitz began her book with some thoughtful and insightful observations about reading aloud to children and about recurring themes in children's literature. She should have stopped while she was ahead. Unfortunately, she digressed into psychological drivel about stories that are simply stories. Examples: in "Willy the Wimp" she describes Willy eating a phallic (her word) diet of bannanas-he's a chimpanzee! What should he have eaten? Ms. Spitz is also fascinated that Willy wears red jockey briefs in his genital area (her words). What's the point of that observation? And poor Madeline! Who knew how troubled she was? Ms. Spitz' pychological reading of the story is a help to no one except perhaps herself (is this an example of a solipsistic approach?)as once again she chose to describe poor Miss Clavel as assuming a phallic shape. Hmmmm. As a children's librarian who has read them all, I implore all of you to read to your child for the pure purpose of enjoyment. Don't dissect and analyze a book to its death. It's my opinion that Ms. Spitz is a "paradigm" of academia's pressure to publish.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is fabulous!
Review: My reaction to this book is overwhelming! I am writing to recommend it to teachers, grandparents, and parents, as well as to children's librarians. As a teacher of elementary school children for over 25 years, I have used picture books in my classes with hundreds of children. "Inside Picture Books" gave me unique and powerful ways of understanding these classic works and the impact they have made and are continuing to make on their readers. I hope that this book will be seen and read by many other teachers. Spitz, an art historian, is especially fascinating on the impact of the pictures, the illustrations, in these books. She enabled me to grasp the subtle messages they convey. I love her wit and sense of humor and agree with Robert Coles's great Introduction where he says that these books are our first signs on life's journey.
Rating: 
Summary: the accident
Review: Over all I found this book to be rather slow and dragging. The first chapter really dragged for me and was very much not liked. The book analyzed every children's book in the same manner.
However, I feel that I must credit Ellen Handler Spitz for her chapter on death. I had never really thought of death as a topic in books to read to children. I thought that it was a topic that we are supposed to avoid. I really credit her for discussing this section.
Within the section I enjoyed reading about The Accident. In fact, this was my favorite section in the whole book. Spitz explains that the story is about a boy, his dog, and how the dog gets hit by a car. Issues arise over the burial and the grieving of the boy. I also enjoyed how Spitz dissected the cover of the book. Spitz gave true meaning to the cover and it really made this book have a deeper understanding to me.
This was the only section of the book where I really enjoyed her dissection of a book. Beyond that point I began just to skim the book because it soon all became the same for every single children's story that she began to analyze. I would have to say that The Accident was the peak in the book for me. After that I truly lost interest.
Rating: 
Summary: Review from Publishers Weekly, April 12, 1999
Review: Readers may never look at picture books in the same way after making their way through this thought-provoking examination. Focusing on her subject through the lens of psychology, Spitz argues that because picture books "provide children with some of their earliest takes on morality, taste, and basic cultural knowledge, including messages about gender, race, and class," it behooves adults to consider more carefully the images transmitted to their kids. Organized thematically, the chapters offer a wide-ranging discussion of art and artistry, visual and verbal cues and the transmission of culture through picture books that resonate with children, often for multiple generations. Whether examining motifs of darkness and abandonment in Margaret Wise Brown's classic bedtime tale "Goodnight Moon," a child's yearning for power in Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" or gender stereotyping in Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" (comparing the bold and naughty Peter to his obedient sisters, she notes "the gendering is explicit: good is to girls as bad is to boys"), Spitz provides an illuminating analysis of what is often taken for granted. Sure to spark lively debate, her book is a must-read for any serious student of children's literature as well as that core group of parents, grandparents, teachers, librarians, and others who are actively engaged in raising children. Proactive, well-written, scholarly without being dry or pedantic, Spitz's text makes a compelling case for the power of art and literature, and the responsibility that accompanies such power, particularly when it relates to children.--Publishers Weekly
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Summary: A Hard Reading Book
Review: Spitz says this book is written for teachers, parents, and anyone else who deals with children on a regular basis, but her vocabulary is far higher than the average reading adult. She appears to be writing for her colleagues at the university. I feel, however, that she did an excellent job analyzing certain picture books, especially the psychological aspects as well as the obvious. When discussing a certain book, she makes reference to others and assumes we have read all these books. Half of them I had never heard of or even recall having them read to me as a child. This book is good if you are a college professor, but for the average reader, it needs work. S.D.
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Summary: Spitz: In Way Too Deep
Review: Stefanie Ulness Inside Picture Books is a nonfiction book about an author's views and thoughts on different children's stories. Ellen Handler Spitz organizes her book into different sections based on the stories she introduces. She discussed books on bedtime, misbehaving characters, dealing with grief, and being accepted for who you are. Spitz starts out by simply analyzing the covers and pictures of the story but all too soon she begins to psychoanalyze the story lines. She continually looks way to deep into the books and makes very judgmental comments about the characters in them. I think by this over-analysis she loses the fun and simple meanings of many of the stories. Her thoughts on some of my favorite children's stories angered me and made me wish she would just enjoy a story instead of ripping it apart.
The word selection in this book is very complex and confusing. I found myself wondering why she would possibly use some of these words when much simpler ones could be substituted. I do realize the book was geared towards scholars but wasn't it also supposed to be for parents? I really don't think that most average parents have the meanings or definitions of these words just floating around in their minds. One positive that came from this book was that it introduced me to many children's stories that I hadn't heard of before. By briefly telling what each story was about (before she used her deep thinking skills) I was able to get a better idea of if the book was worth reading. Overall, I think Spitz ruins the fun of reading books by analyzing every detail of them. She should go back to reading children's stories for the pure pleasure that they provide!
Rating: 
Summary: Valuable reference on children's books
Review: The beginning of the book can be a tough for the reader; the first chapter seems very dry and "boring". However, as the reader continues further into the book, they begin to gain some valuable insight into children's/picture books. Ellen Handler Spitz gives some excellent analysis of many picture books. One fall back, was that many of the books were not books that seemed "popular" to this generation of readers, so even though the insight into them was good, it may not help readers to better grasp the "meanings" of the books.
Most of the books that Spitz reviews within her book are examples of good books to read to children. They deal with a variety of issues such as bedtime stories, stories dealing with death, behavior and dealing with self worth and accepting people as they are.
Overall, this book is a valuable reference for today's parents and teachers. Spitz's book can be an excellent tool to present day teachers and future educators. It can help give them perspective on the books that they may one day read to the students in their classrooms.
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Summary: Inside Picture Books, a brief review
Review: The book, Inside Picture Books, by Ellen Handler Spitz psychoanalysis illustrations, and literature of many classic children's books. Spitz's interpretations of these books are indeed deeply analytical, yet her intentions are positive. Spitz' core motive in her analyzing is to open a realm for her audience in which they can view books in a manner that epitomizes child growth. This book is intended for adults with an interest in children, literature written for them, and their psychological impact.
Often Spitz' opinion gleams through in her analysis of each book, which is important, and also encourages the reader to get to know the books she is talking about, if they haven't already. Although, this might cause a problem for her audience, considering many of the books she analyzes may not deem familiar to many readers, therefore may be a turn-off.
Some of Spitz's interpretations may seem unnecessary to some, yet these insights do offer those concerned with the psychological impact of books with important information, and views. Also, Spitz's interpretations of illustrations in books may seem overly insightful, yet they are important because of the connections that can be made with them.
This book in its wide array of classic children's books, views, and interpretations allows its audience to be aware of the possibilities these interpretations may provide. When choosing books to read to children, we may think back to Spitz's analyses and take our choices more seriously in considering the nature of the child him or herself, and the context in which they live.
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Summary: Drama Inside Picture Books
Review: Thinking that a book on children's books might be too cute, I found myself instead thrust into a dramatic world of violence, retribution, heroism, fear, sadness, humiliation, gender-roles and tenderness startingly revealed in Spitz's analysis. Combining commonsense, personal experiences, biblical reference and psychological sensibilities, Spitz taught me something about my own psychology. It is not only parents who will enjoy this must-read book.
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