WHAT and HOW are age 5-8 picture book readers absorbing?

A question for those of you with picture book age children.
I paint and write picture books, but I don’t have children of my own. I work by my own memories of childhood and the through the child in me.

I would help me a great deal if you could tell me what your little ones are picking up as they read along with you? What do they notice? What makes them particularly excited? In what way do you and your child interact over the pictures and the words.

Lots of picture book authors don't have kids like my friend, Jack Prelutsky. There's Dr. Suess, of course. Maurice Sendak ("you make 'em, I'll entertain 'em"), Beatrix Potter comes to mind.

Thank you in advance for your help!

I have 3 kids, 10, 5 and 3. The 10 year old obviously has outgrown picture books. The 5 and 3 year old are very much in the picture book stage. My five year old is starting to read some books with simple text. For my 3 year old it's all about the pictures. She looks at them very closely picking up on all the details. My 5 year old is starting to pay attention to the text and will now pick out familiar sight words.
My kids seem to enjoy small details in the illustations.They pick up on tiny things - the mouse in Goodnight Moon, the red balloon in Goodnight Gorilla the beetle in Billy's Beetle.
They really enjoy rhyming text. Sandra Boynton's Barnyard Dance, But not the Hippopotamus and Hippos go beserk etc. Sheep in a Jeep, Sheep out to eat etc by Nancy Shaw and The Hairy McLairy books by Lynley Dodd are some favourites.
Humour also seems to be a big factor. They love the fact that they know where the beetle is in Billy's Beetle when the characters can't find it. Same for Goodnight Gorilla, they're in on the secret but the Zookeeper isn't. They love the Percy the Park Keeper books by Nick Butterworth, just about anything by Mick Inkpen, the If you give a .... books by Laura Joffe Numeroff and of course Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Many of the books I've mentioned fit into all 3 of those catergories -they're humourous, have great rhyme and rhythm and wonderful details in the pictures. But there are some favourites that don't fall into any of those catergories. The Thomas the Tank Engine books, Shirley Hughes books, (Alfie, Moving Molly, Helpers), Frank Asch's books Moon bear, Happy Birthday Moon, The Berenstain Bears and Eric Carle's books are a few examples.
Hope this helps. Sorry it was so long. So many books so little time.

Thank you, sodapop, it's very helpful. I will find the books I am not familiar with. I see how the children can feel that they are in on something that other characters are blind to, like the mouse and the gorilla in Goodnight Gorilla.

Any future observation cute, funny, whatever ,of your children as they grow and learn will be most appreciated.

My son just turned 7 but a favorite of ours for the last couple years has been Tacky the Penguin. It's very cute and humerous. He also likes fantasy stories with dragons and monsters and anything with sharks.

Hi belleyang,

Welcome to the forum! Sodapop has provided a wonderful list of books and a great deal of helpful information.

Thanks Sodapop. You are a gem!

Thanks demonlover for adding another book to the list!

~Shelagh

Thanks y'all-What about the picture books that are of a more "serious" and quiet nature, like "The Giving Tree"? How do chilldren perceive the message? I realize it doens't matter if they understand it now...are they engaged by the words and pictures? I also realize that kids are as different in personality as adults: some like it hilarous and some like more thoughtful material.

From our experience (triplets who are almost 7 years old) I would say that simpler pictures appeal to the youngest children, and you can pack in loads more detail when they are approaching 5 to 7 years old.

I remember reading The snowy day by Ezra Jack Keats to our 9 month old daughter, and seeing her try to pick up the images off the page. As infants, our kids were especially attracted to bold red and yellow shapes, and to clear photographs on a plain white background. (They also loved rhyme and repetition, right up to kindergarten age.) The Sandra Boynton and Eric Carle board books were perfect for them, and were read many many times over several years. Then when our kids were learning to read, they were delighted to read those favourites all over again by themselves.

We have read and loved books by all the authors Sodapop mentioned. Special praise to Tomie de Paola, Lynley Dodd, and Mick Inkpen's Kipper books for simple, appealing illustrations.

Another great favourite of ours is Little Pig Figwort by Henrietta Branford, with wonderful pictures by Claudio Munoz. It's a perfect bedtime story, with delightful expressions on the pig's face, and wonderful imaginary dream-like adventures.

Our kids also love the many picture books by Robert Munsch with illustrations by Michael Martchenko. His cartoonish images are very funny, and often add extra details to the stories. These books were big favourites with our kids from age 3 to age 6. Good examples would be We Share Everything, Up, up, down, or Mmm, cookies.

Another great Canadian artist is Marie-Louise Gay who has written and illustrated a series of lovely books about Stella and Sam, and also illustrated Yuck, a Love Story by Don Gillmor. She has won Governor General's Awards for illustration several times.

I must also give special mention to Canadian Barbara Reid and her beautifully plasticine illustrations. "Two by Two" and "the Party" are two books she wrote as well as illustrated. She has won several Governor General's Awards for illustration.

Older kids, age 4 to 6, love the books of Jan Brett with her beautiful detailed borders around each picture, and hints on each page of what is going to happen next.

We are also fond of the books about Toot and Puddle by Holly Hobbie, which have lovely watercolours with strong emotional resonance as well as funny adventures.

Our kids also love picture books where there is a small detail to find on every page.

I'd better close this comment before it gets too many touchstones. Hope you find this helpful.

I must also mention some classics like Ernest H. Shepherd's wonderful drawings of Winnie the Pooh, and Arthur Rackham's ink and watercolour illustrations in many books like English Fairy Tales and "The Night Before Christmas".

In fact we have 3 terrific editions of the Night Before Christmas: one illustrated by Arthur Rackham, one illustrated by Tasha Tudor, and one illustrated by Jan Brett. They are quite different, and each is very special to our children and to us parents.

Earlier I forgot to mention Lois Ehlert and Martin Waddell, also great favourites.

And our newest family favourite is Lauren Child, who creates very funny picture books about Charlie and Lola, Clarice Bean, and others. She now has an animated TV series of Charlie and Lola in England, and we wish we could see it in Canada. From her website, and from her books, it must be a great success.

>tripleblessings--thank you so much. Moms are fabulous. I learned to read and write Japanese as a seond language (Chinese was my first), but when my family moved to the United States, I'd picked up Englisn and forgotten most of my Japanese. Recently, I purchased several Japanese illustrated folktales, written in Japanese, so I am re-learning the language as a seven-year old would. I feel so happy when the illutrations teach me new words, I almost clap my hands like a kid. Now I remember the thrill of connecting picture with words(!) As I work on my next picture book, I will pay attention to the little details as sodapop mentioned. My illustrations tend to be bright and strong shapes.

bellyang- I use The Giving Tree in my classroom (second grade) throughout the year- first as an egaging read aloud, but also to teach about ways we use plants and in econ. with natural resources. It always leads into a discussion of how the boy treats the tree. They always have an opinion about what is happening! Even though the text and pictures are simple, the kids are always engaged by the details. They love the heart and initials written on the tree, and how only the boy's feet show as he climbs the tree, and the fallen apple core to show he's eating the apples.

My kids love those I Spy books, so I think they really like it when picture books give "clues" in the pictures that they can look for. It also makes it fun to reread, since there are new things to find the next time around.

I have a younger daughter (2) and she is currently interested in pictures that have hidden things in them. Like books where you have to find a duck in every picture or something like that.

I have older nieces 3 and 4.5 and they are looking to have longer books read to them, but they must also be illustrated. So sort of a mixture of chapter books and picture books. The pivotal thing for them is that the book should not be scary - ie no ogres or giants, or bad characters, or main characters getting in situations where they are scared.