Books with attractive illustrations encourage the development of book-handling skills and help kids learn to turn pages and read independently. They also encourage children to begin thinking about the story in addition to its words.
They Help Kids to Learn the Language
Picture books are an excellent tool for helping kids to learn a language. Using pictures to support the text is great for visual learners struggling with reading because it can help them figure out the storyline and improve their comprehension skills. The illustrations in picture books also help break up the text, making them easier for children to read. This is important because it can help them build up their reading stamina to get used to reading longer texts.
In addition, holistic learning materials can help children build their vocabulary. The illustrators may use different fonts or colors to highlight words, which allows children to pick up on the new language. These books can also help children develop their social skills, as many stories discuss themes like building friendships, taking risks, and self-control. These themes are often explored through the use of diverse characters.
They Help Kids to Understand the Concepts
Kids will find the storyline difficult to grasp in a text-only book, but illustrations help them understand it. This will also help them hone their sequencing skills and build their imagination. In addition to enticing children to read, illustrations can promote their memory of story details. This is important because young children are still forming their ability to make connections between physical events in stories that occur close together. Children need to develop this skill because they will eventually need it to extract thematic messages from accounts, which requires analogical reasoning.
They Help Kids to Develop Their Imagination
Illustrated educational books teach kids new concepts and ideas like the solar system, the different body parts, etc. These pictures help kids memorize things easier because they relate easily. Kids can learn new language skills and other complex topics following these illustrated storybooks. In a study, the effect of illustrations on learning from print children’s books was assessed by comparing a standard text with one where extraneous illustration details were removed (“Streamlined”). In the Standard condition, children made frequent gaze shifts to the illustrations, and higher fixations to irrelevant graphics during reading resulted in lower reading comprehension scores. However, they found that children could transfer solutions to novel problem types presented in the Standard and Streamlined book conditions. This suggests that while illustrations can interfere with decoding, they can also support reading comprehension for some children. Moreover, limiting the amount of information children are exposed to can minimize this interference.
In conclusion, illustrated educational books play a pivotal role in nurturing and building early literacy skills in young learners. The marriage of captivating visuals with age-appropriate text creates a powerful learning experience that engages children’s imagination, curiosity, and cognitive development. Through vibrant illustrations, children are not only entertained but also encouraged to explore the world of words, fostering a love for reading and learning from a tender age.
