Reading picture books with infants and toddlers facilitates their early language development, with far-reaching benefits for their later reading abilities and academic achievement. While the importance of reading books with children aged from 3 to 5 years is widely recognised, the benefits of reading with much younger children from 0 to 3 years, who are still engaged in learning their first language, are less well understood. This book will explore the seemingly simple practice of reading picture books with infants and toddlers aged 0–3 years, from a range of perspectives. Not only do book-focused adult–child interactions support language and early literacy development in multiple ways, such interactions can also, at the same time, foster intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual growth. By weaving together in an accessible manner the insights from several different discipline areas, this book will explain how and why reading with infants and toddlers has such power to enrich their lives. Providing an evidence-based, theoretically informed account, Reading Picture Books with Infants and Toddlers supports educators, parents, and caregivers with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to provide frequent, enjoyable, and language-rich reading experiences with infants and toddlers.

Children Reading Pictures has made a huge impact on teachers, scholars and students all over the world. The original edition of this book described the fascinating range of children's responses to contemporary picturebooks, which proved that they are sophisticated readers of visual texts and are able to make sense of complex images on literal, visual and metaphorical levels. Through this research, the authors found that children are able to understand different viewpoints, analyse moods, messages and emotions, and articulate personal responses to picture books - even when they struggle with the written word. The study of picturebooks and children’s responses to them has increased dramatically in the 12 years since the first edition was published. Fully revised with a review of the most recent theories and critical work related to picturebooks and meaning-making, this new edition demonstrates how vital visual literacy is to children's understanding and development. The second edition: Includes three new case studies that address social issues, special needs and metafiction Summarises key finding from research with culturally diverse children Draws upon new research on response to digital picturebooks Provides guidelines for those contemplating research on response to picturebooks This book is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of children’s literature as well as providing important reading for Primary and Early Years teachers, literacy co-ordinators and all those interested in picturebooks.

A new, interactive approach to storytime, The Whole Book Approach was developed in conjunction with the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and expert author Megan Dowd Lambert's graduate work in children's literature at Simmons College, offering a practical guide for reshaping storytime and getting kids to think with their eyes. Traditional storytime often offers a passive experience for kids, but the Whole Book approach asks the youngest of readers to ponder all aspects of a picture book and to use their critical thinking skills. Using classic examples, Megan asks kids to think about why the trim size of Ludwig Bemelman's Madeline is so generous, or why the typeset in David Wiesner's Caldecott winner,The Three Pigs, appears to twist around the page, or why books like Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express and Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar are printed landscape instead of portrait. The dynamic discussions that result from this shared reading style range from the profound to the hilarious and will inspire adults to make children's responses to text, art, and design an essential part of storytime.

Children Reading Pictures: New Contexts and Approaches to Picturebooks offers up-to-date research evidence on the responses of the primary audience for picturebooks – children. The new edition has retained the best of the original while expanding its scope in several directions, including the role of the art museum in helping children and their teachers to broaden and deepen their appreciation of the visual, and the significance of understanding diversity and inclusion while looking at illustrations in picturebooks, in digital form and in the art museum. In particular, the third edition: uses new case studies to bring to life exciting initiatives from teachers and art museum educators in the UK and beyond, examining the potential of picturebooks for overcoming cultural, educational, linguistic and other barriers in the classroom and in other settings continues to draw readers’ attention to significant international theoretical work in the field and provides structured advice for teachers and graduate students who wish to carry out their own research focuses on new research with pupils, teachers, art educators and researchers working on young people’s responses to a variety of visual texts, including digital forms and fine art, and through children’s own artistic creations, to develop a more nuanced understanding of visual literacy celebrates the glorious variety of outstanding picturebooks and their makers who offer rich challenge, amusement, pleasure and consolation to young readers in a changing, often troubling world Children Reading Pictures is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of education, art and children’s literature, as well as providing important information for primary and early years teachers, literacy coordinators and for all those interested in picturebooks and visual literacy.