Picture books play a crucial role in young children. They introduce children to the world of literature and this is usually the start of the development of language for many children. Through pictures, young children are introduced to the first concept of reading although they are not able to read yet.
1. Lovable art
Many children love art. That is why many children spend much time drawing, coloring and doing craft. The illustrations found in picture books improves the story and emotions of the context, making the children to continue perusing through the pages, in order to notice new things. As children are being attracted by picture books, they also read them.
2. Reading picture books is enjoyable
Picture books makes the reading experience fun, as they may be magical and entertaining. When children are being read to, they develop a sense of joy. Reading should not be taken as a chore. Once children find reading picture books enjoyable, their progress towards reading picture books greatly improves.
3. Picture books enhances understanding
The illustrations found in picture books enables the children to understand what they are reading. Illustrations also increases the comprehension of children, inspiring their visual thinking. Understanding is enhanced through pictures which are meant to address the issues and emotions of the given topic, thus analyzing the story.
4. Shaping language skills
Through reading picture books, children build their vocabularies as they discover new words. Pictures also provides clues of difficult words unlike the chapter books. Adults may also explain difficult words to children. When children read the same story repeatedly, several language skills like fluency and vocabularies also increases.