Regarding introducing reading, illustrated books are an excellent way to capture a child’s attention. Their bright colors and bold shapes encourage the imagination and help retain their focus. Children may even be inspired to draw pictures, improving their fine motor skills, cognitive development, and concentration.
Language Development
A writing and illustration method for books is an excellent way to stimulate language development in young children. Not only can they be a good source of information, but they also provide a way for children to interact with one another while learning a language. These books also offer opportunities for children to embed new vocabulary, concepts, and grammar.
Many studies show that children who read experience enhanced language development frequently. This is especially true for children who have difficulty with language. In addition to reading stories together, parents can also benefit from providing tutorial support.
Enhanced Picture Facilitation
Enhanced picture facilitation is one way to promote memory retention in children. Studies have shown that children exposed to pictures in educational books are likelier to remember a story. However, this effect may not be universal. The findings suggest that it may depend on a child’s developmental stage. Specifically, younger children may not have developed the processing capacity to fully appreciate the value of pictures and may not be able to use them as retrieval cues.
Research conducted during the 1970s and the 1980s confirmed the effectiveness of pictures in educational books. Since then, researchers have expanded this evidence to incorporate alternative media and technological formats. These new studies are beginning to explore the “why” and “when” of picture facilitation in illustrated educational books.
Auditory Discrimination
Auditory discrimination is an essential skill in language development. This ability enables us to recognize the similarity between two sounds, or phonemes, and distinguish them in words. Children with APD often have difficulty distinguishing between different vowel and consonant sounds. They can also have problems learning basic grammar and word meanings.
Auditory discrimination is one of the main reasons children have trouble learning to read and spell. Children with this disorder may have difficulty incorrectly distinguishing sounds in words and spelling words. They may also struggle with figurative language or reading in a noisy environment.
Story Recall
Story recall is an integral part of reading and comprehending a story. This task requires attention and memory skills, and a book with illustrations can help children develop those skills. Children often look away from the text during reading, and pictures can help them focus. This type of attention control is associated with reading achievement and school readiness. One study investigated the effects of extraneous illustrations on reading comprehension in first and second-grade children. The researchers used a commercially available book for independent reading practice.
Reading Comprehension
This study aimed to assess children’s reading comprehension skills through an illustrated educational book. A commercially available book was used for this purpose, and six suggested comprehension questions were incorporated into the text. The questions were adjusted to reduce memory demands and were linked to specific pages. These questions measured the children’s understanding of the book by determining the percentage of correct responses.
Previous studies have shown that illustrations can interfere with decoding, but the opposite is true. However, children who are struggling readers may benefit from illustrated educational books. This is because the images can help them clarify questions, change their thinking and understand what they are reading. Also, reading comprehension standards state that students should use information from the pictures in their reading process.