Illustrated Stories and Picture Books

Picture books are a format, not a genre. The books can fit into almost any genre. Well illustrated books focus more on the pictures than the actual words. Picture books provide a visual experience and tell a story through pictures. There may or may not be text, but the content of the book can be fully explained with pictures. The pictures are essential to complete understanding and enjoyment of the text. They do not even need to tell a story, they might illustrate letters of the alphabet or numbers.

When choosing picture books for the classroom, it's important to find books with beautiful illustrations and also good examples of books that can tell a story through the illustrations. Students can be taught that illustrations help add details and give information that wasn't in the text. They still enjoy these as read-alouds and they will help engage young learners.


Awards:
Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2015
Children's Book Council

Author or Text Resources:
Kids' Books 
Famous Authors 
20 Most Beautiful Children's Books 

General Resources:
Children's Storybooks Online 
Understanding Children's Books

Quality Teaching Ideas:
Children's Picture Book Project 
Teaching with Books 

Some of my favorite book choices:

Stuck
By: Oliver Jeffers


When Floyd's kite gets stuck in a tree, he's determined to get it out. Everything he throws into the tree to get the kite out ends up getting stuck as well. An absurdly funny story, it's childlike in concept and beautifully illustrated. It has a very strong message. This book can help teach students how to make predictions about what might happen next.

Jeffers, Oliver. (2011). Stuck. New York, New York: Philomel. 
Grade level span:  2-3, Lexile Level: 740L, Grade Level: 3.4
Grade level span for class read aloud: 1-4
Major themes addressed: never give up, making another mistake won't fix the first one
Qualities of the writing: beautiful illustrations, hidden meanings
Connections to local, national, or global issues: government making a mistake to try to fix a previous one
Facets that might require support: Students might not get the hidden meanings on their own
Support that might be needed: Discussion about the text and what it is trying to teach


The Bridge Is Up!
By: Babs Bell Hajdusiewicz



When the bridge is up, none of the vehicles can get across and they all have to wait. A long line waits to cross the bridge, causing a traffic jam. When the bridge finally comes down, nobody has to wait. The Bridge Is Up has colorful illustrations that help kids understand the story. The illustrations can be used to help teach details and progression. The text also builds with each page.

Hajdusiewicz, Babs Bell. (2004). The bridge is up. New York, New York: Harper Collins.
Grade level span:  n.a., Lexile Level: n.a., Grade Level: n.a.
Grade level span for class read aloud: K-1
Major themes addressed: patience, how important things are that we use everyday and don't give much thought to
Qualities of the writing: repetitive text helps understanding
Connections to local, national, or global issues: importance of items in society that we take daily advantage of
Facets that might require support: Students might need help understanding deeper concepts and seeing any lessons in the text on their own
Support that might be needed: classroom discussion about patience and not taking things for granted