Through Joyce Nealy’s lovely series of picture books, young children learn the thrills and joys of reading while getting immersed in a fun, cheerful narrative with pleasant illustrations. Let’s find out how illustrations help children with reading.
Children are more inclined to read when it entertains them. The best way to elicit this interest from them is through picture books, which are narrative stories accompanied by delightful illustrations. Illustrations help children with reading and discovering new things. Text-only books appear dull for many new readers. While an exceptionally well-written story might hook some, adding images can magnify any story’s inherent value and appeal; thus, increasing the likelihood that a child will finish the story rather than forget it.
Illustrations are wonderful devices for garnering children’s attentiveness and focus and fostering a curious and creative mindset. For many readers, an illustration conveys much about the story, leading to further comprehension and attachment. The visual depiction of characters and setting also play a significant part in developing a child’s ingenuity by letting them play around with the images in their headspace.
Why the Presence of Illustrations in Children’s Books are Important
- Pictures encourage children to read more. Young children are visual learners; images are the best way to get their attention. They might need help understanding the storyline depicted in the story, but at the least, they are already engaged. Still, their appreciation of the imagery will eventually lead them to try to understand its context, leading to increased interest in the story’s text.
- Pictures strengthen the imagination. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Visualizing concepts and ideas is essential in developing an analytical and detail-oriented mind. Illustrations do this by letting readers link words to images and presenting a visual mnemonic inside their heads, which helps them remember concepts when discovering the associated word.
- Pictures improve self-control. By having illustrations in a book, readers are given natural and emphatic indications of where to pause and begin, allowing them a personal level of control over how to pace themselves in reading.
- Pictures serve as effective learning devices. The most significant advantage of illustrations is they are accessible vehicles for introducing unknown concepts and objects, such as animals, plants, places, etc., without the hassle of acquiring a physical example to present to children. Illustrations also possess a high degree of interactivity for readers to engage with abstract ideas, such as mathematical concepts and scientific theories. These notions are acutely dull for developing minds, and the incorporation of accompanying illustrations provides a more straightforward explanation and comprehension. Even tenured professionals have to use illustrations to introduce their ideas and perspectives.
- Pictures offer different perspectives. As sensual entities, children interact with the world primarily through their eyes and hands. This approach anchors the thinking process to the physical. Illustrations can alleviate this by introducing and reinforcing analogical and nonlinear thinking. By relating images to texts, readers are given scenarios to think about in the abstract.
- Pictures reinforce vocabulary. Although this method might be less effective with older readers, it is incredibly beneficial for young ones. By associating novel words with illustrations, it is much easier to remember them. If the accompanying image is a concrete example of the word, readers can quickly understand how it can be used in context.
Where to Start Reading Wonderful Picture Books?
If you are looking for a good picture book to get your young ones starting, Joyce Nealy has a lovely catalog of perfectly written adventure books for children with equally perfect illustrations. Here are just some of the books in her excellent inventory:
- JoJo’s Adventure is a thrilling story where a bird has an unexpected adventure.
- Where Is Morris is a funny tale of a kitten playing hide-and-seek with his friends.
- Mollie’s Surprise is a heartwarming narrative about a raccoon giving her family a big surprise.
- Sparky and the Pond is a lovely yarn of one puppy’s family.