Picture Books Magic: Read, Wonder and Explore

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Picture books can really be the answer to everything. They don’t have to be educational to be learning tools. Picture books will attract all ages, as long as they are beautiful, well written and interesting. They really are a mom’s best friend And there are so many of them the possibilities are endless! Let’s look at having some fun with picture books.

Instilling wonder

Picture books instill wonder, no matter the age. When I first start reading board books to my baby, she loves the colors, the shapes, and especially animals or familiar objects. The images are the focus. Hence the importance of choosing beautifully illustrated books. But soon the words become important, especially rhymes and rhythms. Then the interest in the story appears and she wants to know what happens next. The progression is just stunning. Soon she discovers that she can learn all about the world around her through picture books and the doors of discoveries are flung wide open.

Fun with picture books

When you use picture books as a learning tool it is much more difficult to fall into an “academics only” pattern. Picture books invite wonder, excitement and playfulness. Even the ones with more serious subjects. They invite a desire to get to know more, to discover, to explore. They invite play and experimentation. Picture books trigger our thirst for knowledge and discovery. They are the perfect gateway to learning while delighting in the task at hand. All the enrichment activities in the Booklists are based on this concept, even if some are more academic than others. Let’s explore some meaningful ways to enjoy learning with picture books, for the whole family.

Discoveries with picture books

Choose one subject and gather as many picture books on that subject as you can. It could be anything from the Civil War (that’s A LOT of picture books) to fairy tales (that’s even more)! 

Or choose a word, an animal, a fact. But this is a great way to explore any topic that your family might be interested in. Send your children on a hunt for any books in the house that contain the word “story” in the title. Enjoy reading each one. Then spend some time discussing what do all these books have in common? What does it mean when a title uses the word “story”? Now can you write a “story” according to what you have discovered? You could write a “story” alone or as a family.

Geography

One of my favorite ways to learn about a new country is through the country’s fairy tales, tall tales and folk tales. It enables us to discover so much more than just the political facts, the borders and the flag, we can encounter the people through these tales. And when these tales are in a picture book format you discover not just the people but also what they look like, the arts and crafts that they practice, the way they eat, what their homes look like. It is a true anthropological exploration. I fell in love with Eastern European embroidery through picture books. Any picture book worth its salt will have incredibly detailed illustrations accompanying the tale that will transport you straight into the heart of a new culture.

Author/illustrator

Encounter beauty through one specific author/illustrator. Spend some time with a new friend, discover his style, his favorite subject, the way he creates and writes. Long ago, we did a deep dive with Eric Carle. We checked out as many of his picture books out of the library as we could. We did it all from learning the sounds of animals from Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? To crazy antics with From Head to Toe. But the part we enjoyed best was learning about Eric Carle himself through Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art and The Art of Eric Carle. We then decided to deep dive into his art technique of painting tissue papers, then decoupaging to create amazing animals. This was a tremendous learning experience that we all enjoyed from myself down to our youngest artist. The older kiddos still talk about it.

Play with picture books

Oh the games you can play with picture books! They are truly endless! From building an obstacle course to mimic Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury to learning hymns with America the Beautiful by Katherine Lee Bates, illustrated by Wendell Minor. The rabbit trails that picture books open up for us are phenomenal. From  America the Beautiful we have not only learned the hymn, but we have explored the places illustrated by Wendell Minor. We have not necessarily visited them in person, but now they are places we know about and that we want to go visit. Re-enacting the actions in the books can take many forms from charades to acting, some books are just perfect for that. How about having a Wild Rumpus night just like Max’s in Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak?

Cook with picture books

So many picture books contain recipes! From If you Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond to The Apple Cake by Nienke van Hichtum, illustrated by Marjan van Zeyl, you can learn the essential life skill of baking chocolate chip cookies to the more refined art of the apple cake. Stone Soup by Marcia Brown will help us be creative on a cold winter evening when the larder is empty because Mom hasn’t had time to run to the store. A favorite resource for our Poetry Tea Times are cookbooks based on books such as this wonderful Redwall Cookbook by Brian Jacques, illustrated by Christopher Denise. Chase away the fear of thunder with Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco while baking your very own thundercake.

Picture books treasure hunts

Treasure hunts are my favorites! There are so many ways you can create a treasure hunt. The easiest and simplest treasure hunt would be searching for an object that matches the color mentioned in Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. You could step up the treasure hunt in the spring by taking the book to the garden store and finding seed packets and plants to match the ones in the book. Or you could mail order them as well, but not quite as much fun and it does not have the same effect.
Another treasure hunt, but this requires more preparation, would be to follow the path of The Three Little Pigs. Read the story, then give the children an envelope with a secret message in it directing them to a part of the house (or the yard, even better) where they will find a pile of straw (it could be drinking straws, lol). There they find a second note telling them to build a straw house. Under the straw is another envelope telling them the wolf has blown their house down and they need to run to another place where there is a pile of sticks, etc…

Arts and crafts

Many picture books, such as The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola, or Miss Todd and her Wonderful Machine by Kristina Yee, just demand to get crayons, wood and wire out to create. Picture books can be the source and inspiration of many fantastic craft creations. In Miss Todd, not only is Lillian Todd’s story inspiring but the illustrations reinforce the desire for creativity with its puppet-like design. Any artist’s picture books will awaken the inner artist. And being art pieces in their own rights, the illustrations can also be inspiring. Melissa Sweet’s illustrations inspired us to start looking into junk journaling, and we love it! Once again your imagination is the limit. Reading about composers and musicians or singers sparks a desire to listen to their music. Resistance is futile if you read I, Vivaldi By Janice Shefelma, illustrated by Tom Shefelman, you will HAVE TO listen to his magical music.

Joy

But mainly picture books should be synonyms of stories, snuggles and smiles. They are the best opportunity we have to just sit and enjoy something simple yet beautiful and good with our children. Picture books do their own teaching. They are a vehicle of attention, love and joy. The simple act of sitting down and reading with our children is always a source of love for each one. So let’s make more time to read picture books. We might not have time, or energy, to do anything further than to read but let’s read. Let’s admire the illustrations, soak in the story and love these moments. It always brings joy. No matter how you enjoy a picture book, let it be a source of snuggles and smiles.
Love,
Mattie

• A Daily Picture Book’s Booklists 
• Printable Resource Guide with all the picture books mentioned above.