You can go to effects and use text effect or just right click the text and go to text effects or warp. Another way is to use tube, sphere or pinch all of these are in Corel and PS. you just mask the area you want to shape in or out.
As far as I know text is always in a continuous blokc. Of course you could use the space bar... but I don't think PS will do it for you automatically. Keep in mind though, I am no expert.
The only way I can think of doing it is by allowing the grid to show up in the background, then make one text box for one continuous block, then (using the grid to help place the box in the right place) making another continuous block under the image. It's kind of a sucky way around the whole thing, but it's all I can think of.
If you want to have the picture and text separate, then there is no need to use photoshop at all. You could just use a standard word processing package. They usually have options on them so that you can specify how you want the text to interact with the pictures.
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." Bertrand Russell
I'm writing a childrems book and it would help alot.