My child is having difficulties learning to read. Can picture books help?
- Reeta Dhar
- Sep 18
- 6 min read
Yes, picture books are great for children - of all ages - who are still learning to read or having some difficulties mastering the skill. Picture books have a low overall word count of between 500 to 1000 words, spread over 26-32 pages. This makes it possible for even beginners to work their way through the entire book in one sitting, which great for boosting their confidence in reading. Willow the Wonderer picture books are especially helpful for learning to read as they are written in rhyme. This teaches young children a critical skills in reading -- phonics, the sounds combination of letters make. The illustrations in picture books also help children step away from the difficult task of deciphering alphabets and sounds to appreciating something that comes naturally to all humans -- Art. Illustrations aid not only with comprehension but can also help kids guess unfamiliar words. This again, is great for boosting their confidence as readers. Willow the Wonderer's stories, especially Books 3, 4 and 5, will also appeal to older kids (say 8+ years); a lot of the themes dealt in those books will resonate with their early experience of life.
Reading is a difficult skill
It's easy to get caught up in 'averages' in our society, and judge our children according to that. One such average is guidelines around reading levels. Whilst helpful in some setting, reading is one of those skills that even experts agree is a very difficult skill to master. So if your child is struggling to learn to read, first of all, give them and yourself a break. Nothing could be more normal.
Structured literacy and the six pillars of reading
There's a lot of literature on teaching kids to read. The one we have reference for our work is called Structured Literacy - An evidence-based approach to teaching reading that involves a combination of phonics (sounding out words) and explicit teacher-led instruction.
What appealed to me about Structured Literacy was the idea that sits at its core: Reading isn't easy and requires two to three years of explicit teaching in the classroom.
There are 'six pillars of reading' under Structured Literacy:
Phonemic awareness - developing an awareness of the sounds that make up a word.
Phonics - understanding or decoding the sounds that letters and combination of letters create.
Reading fluency - ability to read accurately and quickly
Vocabulary Instruction - words we need to know to communicate effectively
Text comprehension instruction - understanding the meaning of a text
Oral language - being able to use the vocabulary to construct sentences and communicate
This article from the ABC goes into each pillar with expert commentary around each. I recommend reading this to understand the science of teaching kids to read in more detail. It also explains why we recommend picture books for kids who are learning to or even struggling with reading.
How Picture Books can help kids learning to read
Picture books have two main components that make it perfect for young children who are just learning to read and even older kids who maybe struggling with mastering the skill:
Short and concise so easy to get through: The average picture book has been 500 to a 1000 word count, usually spread between 26-32 pages. These make it perfect for beginner readers as it means they can get through the book in one short sitting. Finishing a whole book is great for building confidence and encouraging budding readers to keep going. It gives them a sense of accomplishment and may even encourage them to tackle bigger books. If your child is struggling to read, we recommend accompanying them as they read their picture books, so you can help them with difficult words and keep them moving along.
Illustrations aid comprehension: Reading may not be a natural skill but looking and making sense of the world through pictures -- Now, that is something that's innate to all humans. This is where picture books shine, as the story is told through the medium of both words and illustrations. Having illustrations to look at, not only gives children a break from the difficult mental activity of deciphering alphabets and sounds, but also aids in developing comprehension (one of the six pillar of reading) ie take some time to understand what the words mean. Best of all, sometimes illustration can help them guess an unfamiliar word which again, is a wonderful for boosting their confidence in their reading skills.
Why Willow the Wonderer picture books are especially helpful for early readers
There are a few more characteristics that some picture books, like our Willow the Wonderer series, have that make them even better suited for teaching kids how to read:
Rhymes: All Willow the Wonderer books are written in rhyme. When read out aloud, these create a wonderful melody that makes reading engaging. Rhymes also teaches kids another essential skill in reading - Phonics i.e. understanding or decoding the sounds that letters and combination of letters create. Rhymes are actually the recommended way to teach phonics as it allows the learning to occur very naturally. How? To create a rhyme we need to use words that have the same combination of letters at the end. By reading these out aloud, kids begin to effortlessly recognise the pattern (combination of letters) while learning the sound that they make. Take for example the opening stanza from Willow the Wonderer, where kids can learn how to sound "a+y" combination:
Willow the Wonderer
Woke up one day,
Wondering about happiness
And where it lay
Narrative that is engaging for all ages: It is important to note that some picture books are meant exclusively for small children. These will have a simple and paired back narrative with basic illustrations. It goes without saying that these books will not appeal to older children, even if they are still learning to read... So if your child is older, take care to choose picture books that are more likely to appeal them. Willow the Wonderer picture books are especially good choice for older kids, as they are epic narratives that deal to themes which will resonate with older children. The art is also sophisticated so will also be of interest to them. This is especially true with books 3 to 5 in the series - Space Odyssey, The Gift and soon to be released, Inner Worlds.
A few challenging words: One of the first things I did when I started working on the Willow the Wonderer series was throw away all the guidelines around "age appropriateness" out the window ... I believe that stories should be told with words that express it the best - nothing more or less will suffice. Colourful language is one of the things that makes reading (and writing) interesting so I have to admit, I did not hold back while writing the series: There are big words, old words, unusual words and even words that some in the literary circles would denounce as 'obsolete'. This is what makes Willow the Wonderer fun to read, even for older children. It is an opportunity for them to add to their vocabulary, whilst mastering all the basic skills of reading. It's also important to remember that thanks to television, the internet, youtube and wonderful movies for example from the Pixar franchise children these days are exposed to a lot more language, ideas and concepts than we ever were ... They probably know more than we give them credit for.
How can you help
As parents, grandparents and carers, I feel the best thing you can do to help and encourage children to read is to help them enjoy the stories that books tell.
Let children from a very early age see books as a portal to mystery, wonder, adventure and joy - and not as something that makes them work and gives them grief! Never make reading a task. Rather, make storytime a treasured tradition.
Read interesting books and stories to them. Make it fun and engaging -- Perform if you must :) Before you know it, your little ones will be wanting and willing to learn to read.
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