The Words Don't Match the Pictures

There's No Such Thing as Ghosts!

by Emmanuelle Eeckhout

first American Edition, Kane Miller, 2008

first published in Belgium, 2008

review copy provided by Kane Miller

The unnamed little boy is not supposed to go near the strange old house on the corner in his new neighborhood because it's said to be haunted.  So...he promptly goes there because he wants to catch a ghost!

No matter where he goes in the strange old house, he finds no ghosts. However, the reader can clearly see that behind him, or above him, or below him, or hidden in the bubbles of the bubble bath, there are clearly LOTS of ghosts.

Despite what the reader knows, the little boy declares, "There's no such thing as ghosts!"

The words don't match the pictures.


Minji's Salon

by Eun-hee Choung

first American edition, Kane Miller, 2008

first published in South Korea in 2007

review copy provided by Kane Miller

Minji's mother is at the beauty salon getting a new hairdo.  On the left side of the facing pages, the reader sees Minji's mother at her salon getting cut, colored, and styled. On the right side are the words Minji's mother might hear, along with a picture of Minji acting the words out on her dog.  

"The color must be mixed carefully.  (No tasting allowed.)" reads the text.  The stylist is mixing colors from tubes for mother's hair; Minji is choosing coloring ingredients from the freezer (mmmm, ice cream!) for the dog's hair.

"You have to be patient; beauty takes time," reads the text.  In the left hand picture, we see Minji's mother with eyes closed, serenely patient as the stylist colors and rolls her hair.  In the right hand picture, we see a wild-eyed dog smeared with ice cream, tongue in the container, bits of fur rolled up in crayons and pencils.

The words don't match (both of) the pictures.  (At least not until the end, when Minji says, "Mom will be back soon.  I think she'll be surprised.")

What are some other examples of books like these (books with parallel stories, books where the pictures don't match the words) and how do you use them in your classroom or library story time?