Paint the Story!

Everyone knows the best part of picture books is…the pictures! Illustrations aren’t just there to make it pretty, though; the illustrations in children’s books serve a valuable purpose. They help kids understand what’s happening in the story, including how the characters feel. They can add plot points and visual jokes (think of when a character is looking for something and we, the readers, can see it!). They also create an opportunity for imagination and discussion beyond what is in the text, especially in books for early readers where vocabulary is limited.

What’s more, books with great illustrations encourage kids to read them multiple times, which helps them build fluency. For all these reasons, illustrations can be one of the best ways to motivate a reluctant early reader.

An exciting way to engage with the illustrations in a book is to “paint the story.” This can literally be painting a picture based on the book, but there are endless opportunities for using different art techniques and materials. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers

When Floyd’s kite gets stuck in a tree, he tries to knock it down with increasingly larger and more outrageous things—even a whale and a fire truck!

• Paint or draw a picture of a tree.
• Cut pictures out of old magazines of crazy things to get stuck in your tree.
• Glue pictures all over the tree. Don’t forget to include a kite!

Abuela’s Super Capa by Ana Siqueira

Luis sees his abuela as a superhero, but when she gets sick and can’t be his super sidekick anymore, his little sister steps up to the challenge.

• Make your own super cape by cutting the front and sleeves off of an old T-shirt.
• Paint a design on the cape and go fight crime!

It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw.

This classic book is about watching clouds, which can look like almost anything. This is a great chance to get sensory!

• Squirt shaving cream onto a clean kitchen counter or sheet pan, and let littles use their hands to make cloud shapes.
• Mix equal parts glue and shaving cream to make cloud paint. Paint onto dark-colored paper to make 3D puffy cloud paintings.

The Cat at Night by Dahlov Ipcar

This story shows the nighttime escapades of a cat, while comparing the night vision of humans and cats. There are two great options to “paint the story” in this book.

• To mimic the cat’s excellent night vision, make colorful, detailed drawings with chalk or oil pastels on black paper.
• For the human’s version, which is mostly just silhouettes, do some shadow drawings. Set toys or figurines at the edge of the paper with a strong light source to the side (this works great on a sunny day!), then trace the shadow.

El Peor Teddy Del Mundo by Marcelo Verdad

Noa’s teddy is always too sleepy to play. When we find out what he’s doing all night, we realize he’s really the best teddy.

• Noa’s expressions are the best—talk with your child about how we can tell Noa is mad (hint: eyebrows!).
• Crayons or oil pastels are a great choice to copy the bold style of these illustrations.
• In addition to drawing parts of the story, you could draw your own idea of a nighttime visitor.

Good Hair by Yvonne Sewankambo

This story celebrates hair of all textures, lengths and colors, and is a great message about acceptance of ourselves and others.

• Draw some great hair with crayons, markers or paint.
• Make it 3D with feathers, cotton balls, yarn, glitter or any other supplies you have around.

And don’t forget about nonfiction!

Fungi Grow by Maria Gianferrari is a great example of a nonfiction book chock full of bright, interesting illustrations. Kids can copy the fungi they like best or design their own funky new fungus!

• Use a combination of pens or markers to draw outlines, then watercolors to fill in.

• Use Play-Doh or modeling clay to create 3D versions.

The point isn’t to perfectly copy the pictures from a book—and sometimes you’ll end up with something totally different—but doing activities like these will help children learn to notice and appreciate illustrations, which will in turn make them more observant and engaged readers. And engaged readers are avid readers.