Illustrated Story and Picture Books

Be Selective!
Picture books are easy to find! They come in all genres and all reading levels. They are also great additions to any classroom. With dynamic illustrations, these books provide a strong visual experience which tell or enhance a story. These texts can greatly increase student comprehension and can be used to enhance learning for all students. However, when adding books of this genre to your classroom, it is extremely important to be selective and look for quality illustrated stories and picture books. Great recommendations can be found from book award lists including: Caldecott Medal, Golden Kite Award,  and Givemy Award. Other considerations to take into consideration include:

• Connection to content 
• Enhance understanding of content
• Use as an anchor text for comprehension
• Teaching life lessons
• Books you enjoyed as a child
• Effective use for ELLs  
• Multicultural/ethnicity 
• Life connections

Often students at all learning levels find great joy in reading picture books and illustrated stories. The themes and values integrated into picture books can often leave great impressions on students. Therefore, discussion should definitely contribute to lessons with these texts.

Examples of Quality
Dave the Potter (2010) written by Laban Carrick Hill illustrated by Bryan Collier
According to Lexile measures and CCSS text complexity grade level span, the language in this book is suited for 9th-10th graders. However, with consideration of the visuals and descriptions aiding comprehension with this book, I would consider this book an appropriate read aloud for students in grades 1st-3rd. With themes of slavery, African American hardships, perseverance, and poetic expression, this book illustrates the life of Dave. With vivid and descriptive language, Hill really helps us visualize the characters and the work going on in the story. Illustrator Collier also beautifully describes the process the character goes through in creating his pottery. The intricate relationship between the language and illustrations of this book greatly enhance the story of Dave. Overall, with focus on slavery, this story can help students examine the issues of slavery and how some slaves dealt with it. Discussion and research should be encouraged in order to enhance understanding and compassion toward the events which took place.

Grandpa Green (2011) written and illustrated by Lane Smith
With consideration of Lexile measure and CCSS text complexity measure, this book is appropriate for 1st-2nd grade readers. If using this book as a read aloud, I would say it could easily be used in classrooms K-3. Big underlying themes in this book include relationships between old and young, appreciation/respect for elders, and artistic expression. When using this text in the classroom, it is important that students have access to the descriptive illustrations. These illustrations tell just as much if not more of the story than the words do. Overall, this book would be great to use if focusing on and bringing about an appreciation/respect/understanding of elders. For this book, discussion about relationships, research about artistic expression, and personal research/interviews with elders would help students better understand and learn from this book.