Picturebooks can be used as tools for change in so many ways that are important for children’s development!
We recommend using books for:
Relationship Building:
Reading books aloud with kids can create time to share, listen, connect, make meaning, and get to know each others' points of view.
Sparking Conversations:
“We recommend that adults read quality picture books to children and have conversations with them about the content of the picture books. What we’ve learned is that very often parents and educators think that they’re helping children understand race just by reading a book, but that’s the minimal that you can do. The most important thing is to have a conversation about what you’re seeing and reading together with your child.” - Dr. Aisha White
Engaging in Learning:
Picture books can be used to support children’s learning across a wide range of topics from language and early literacy skills, social emotional and identity development, to content and discipline knowledge, current events, and history. They are key to helping children make sense of the world, yet in many children’s classrooms, the worlds represented in these picture books are limited.
When done intentionally and interactively, and effectively, adults can use books as tools to help ALL aspects of child learning - promote language, have discussion, share language, build knowledge, and cultivate relationships.