Taking a Picture Walk « Missouri Humanities Council

Taking a Picture Walk
By Julie Douglas, MHC Family Program Director

Julie Douglas Believe it or not, Spring is going to come to Missouri. We had a little taste of it this past weekend. And like many others who have been suffering from cabin fever, I grabbed my tennis shoes and headed for the nearby conservation area. Walking is nice and all, but I find myself getting bored quickly. To entertain myself, I make up little stories about the people I meet on the trail. The woman wearing the sunglasses and walking briskly with her head bent down is actually a famous rock star in town for a concert and looking for a few moments of peace and quiet before she meets her adoring fans. The guy with big backpack? A bank robber who is scoping out an inconspicuous place to bury the loot. The woods around the trail? Enchanted, of course, and filled with fairies and trolls (you can tell by the little forts cleverly disguised as piles of brush.) It’s amazing (and entertaining) what you can discover with a little observation and imagination.

Imagination and observation are wonderful tools for exploring the illustrations in a children’s book. Teachers and librarians like to invite children to take a “picture walk” before reading or hearing a story. They know that often the illustrations tell a story (sometimes even a different story than the text). They also know that taking a picture walk helps the child use visual clues to understand the new vocabulary and details of the story. A picture walk is a wonderful way for a child to practice narrative skills by telling or retelling a story using the pictures as prompts. And, just like taking a walk in the woods, a picture walk encourages one to slow down and take notice.

Going on a picture walk is easy to do! Follow these simple steps to help your child make his or her own discoveries in a picture book.

1. Read the title and author of the book. Take a moment to look at the cover. Ask, “What do you think this book is going to be about? Why? Who do you think we will meet in this story?”

2. Open to the first page. Suggest to your child that before reading the words, you can look at the pictures and try to guess what the story is about.

3. Model talking about the illustrations. For example, you might say, “I see a lot of farm animals. The cow looks very unhappy in this picture, and the other animals look like they are laughing at him. Wow, there are a lot of animals here. I wonder if we can name them all.”

4. Ask lots of open-ended questions. Instead of asking, “Do you like this picture?” ask “What is your favorite thing on this page?” or “What would you do if you were in this picture?”

5. Occasionally paraphrase what your child says, adding in some interesting vocabulary. For example, Child: “I see a horse.” Adult: “Yes I see the tall, brown horse, too!”

6. Build suspense and sharpen your child’s ability to predict what will happen next. Stop and ask what she thinks might happen before turning a page, or what she thinks a character might do next.

7. Once you have reached the end of your picture walk, your child’s interest in the book has been piqued. Read the book together taking time to compare your predictions as the story unfolds. But don’t worry if you were way off! Sometimes making up a new story is just as much fun.

One of my favorite picture books is ROSIE’S WALK by Pat Hutchins.

The Illustrations tell the REAL story of what happened when Rosie the hen went for a walk through the barnyard. Check out these richly illustrated books to get started on picture walking adventures with your child.