Reading picture books with elementary students is valuable and delightful!
Watching students empathize with the characters while reading a story is truly education at its best. Picture books allow students to look at pictures of the characters while hearing/reading about the characters. This tandem observation allows students to learn more quickly about a character in social and emotional situations.
“Picture books allow students to look at pictures of the characters while hearing/reading about the characters.”
Even if a student does not understand some of the wording of the book, they can recognize body language, facial expressions, and situations in the pictures. Even in the older elementary years, students can glean a lot from reading picture books. Sometimes the jump to chapter books takes away that dual learning that pictures books embody. Reading chapter books is a great way to build imagination, but picture books go into the mind in more than one way: through the illustrations and through the words.
To start exploring books with incredible illustrations to engage your child, check out these two recommendations!
What Should Danny Do? by Ganit & Adir Levy
Grateful Ninja by Mary Nhim