Read Aloud and the Case for Picture Books

A lot of homeschoolers talk about family read aloud: gathering all the kids together-- from toddlers to teenagers-- and sharing great literature. This sounds lovely and I'd become curious about those perfect texts that would engage multiple ages at once.

We have always read to our kids a lot, and at bedtime, religiously. But we've mostly read to them separately, not together. I've got a kindergartner and a fifth grader, so they're at pretty different stages. (My 10-year-old reads to himself plenty all the time, but we still read aloud to him at bedtime-- I'll take it for as long as I can!) There are so many amazing books out there for big kids and it's always fun to choose what he and I will read together next. Currently my husband is reading a book from the 39 Clues series to W, while W and I have just begun The Phantom Tollbooth. While he listens, W likes to draw or color or, most often lately, work on pictures in one of his several Extreme Dot-to-Dot books. When I read to my five-year old daughter, on the other hand, we read High Five or Ladybug magazine or one of the seven hundred picture books we own. M is completely absorbed by the pictures and she sits in my lap or curls up next to me, scrutinizing every page and interjecting with questions.

But having both my kids home for the final months of this past school year helped me realize how valuable it is to find shared learning experiences for them-- things they can both access even with their age difference, even if they get different things out of them. I thought I'd try to make reading together a bit of a routine this summer and make an effort to find great read alouds we could all share. I tried reading a few classic novels aimed at a young audience to both my kids together. Here are a few thoughts on each of the ones we tried.

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The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams: Written in the 1920s, it's a magical story with a nice message. I think it's nice to read kids some books like this one that are written long ago. It helps give them get a taste for what childhood might have been like before their grandparents were born, and helps them take in language they aren't familiar with. Even with words like "brigands," this one is a story about a stuffed animal after all.

Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne: Some sweet humor that you have to be a bigger kid to understand and we found ourselves explaining to M some of the jokes that entire chapters were based on (like the spotted and herbaceous "Backson" that lives in the animals' imaginations after Christopher Robin leaves a note intending to say that he'll be "back soon"). But it is still an extra-lovable story. Some of the situations those friends get themselves into are so funny. The games they play, feelings they have, and "expotitions" they go on are beautifully child-like and relatable.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Betty MacDonald: This was probably the biggest mutual hit with my kids. It was concrete (and formulaic) enough for my youngest but clever and funny enough for my oldest.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll: I have to admit we haven't yet finished this strange book. I'd never read it myself, though at many parts I can clearly visualize the Disney movie that I did see as a kid. Some of the strangeness is a hoot (following a rabbit down a hole one day out of boredom), and some is just strange and a little harder to follow.

A Bear Called Paddington, Michael Bond: My son loved Paddington (though he's also seen the very-good movie and it was a rare case where he liked the movie more) but my daughter got bored by the end. Sweet story about a London family taking in a bear who is always sticky with marmalade and gets into various innocent scrapes.

Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren: The sheer ridiculousness of it is fascinating. Here's a kid who lives on her own, plays with guns, doesn't go to school at all (not even remote or hybrid or homeschool!), who wins over burglars just by being herself, and is never afraid. But Pippi is so bold and fun. Maybe in some ways she embodies the inner wishes of kids-- rolling out cookie dough on the floor and living with a monkey and a pony and not having a bedtime. I'm glad we read it. While reading it, W was often making connections to some other favorite female protagonists I'm glad to say he's known and loved-- Anne (of Green Gables), Ramona, and Junie B.

Homer Price, Robert McCloskey: Like all Robert McCloskey books, it feels so very old-fashioned. W liked it. Each chapter is its own little story, entertaining and less than believable, with situations involving burglars and a pet skunk, a kid left in charge of a restaurant on his own, and prize-winning balls of yarn. There's a picture on every other page. M seems to like it and mostly follow along, but doesn't love it.

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The only "chapter" books I'd read to M before this summer were things like Frog and Toad, Henry and Mudge, and Mr. Putter and Tabby-- all of which she loves-- but each chapter is its own little story with the same characters and themes over and over, and the whole book can be read in one sitting.

W is always hooked by the novelty of any new story, and likes a good book, no matter what reading level it is. While he consumes big thick books like Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, he will also laugh out loud over The Berenstain Bears if one is left lying around. I knew he would enjoy almost anything.

Aside from Winnie-the-Pooh, the longer books we read together this summer were new for all of us. W and I loved them all-- turns out there's a reason they are classics. M liked...some of them. There were certain bizarre details she tuned into in Pippi Longstocking (she demonstrates to us at bedtime many evenings now how Pippi sleeps with her feet on the pillow and her head under the covers). And I think she was engaged for a lot of Winnie-the-Pooh and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. But I found I needed to stop often to try to keep M on the same page in the longer, picture-less books (some we listened to as audio books so they may have had pictures but we didn't see them). Sometimes she asked questions, or I would tell her what words meant, or have W share a simple inference when she didn't get what was happening, or we'd explain to her what was so funny when we laughed. I was reminded that, at five, M needs a story that's fairly concrete, especially when she has to visualize it all herself. When she looked bored or wasn't able to answer a basic story question if I asked her one, I thought, what exactly am I gaining here by sharing this "classic" with her at this stage? There were certainly things she got out of some of them. But there were enough things she missed that she didn't fully absorb the magic of these great stories. I remain convinced that it is a small, special niche of novels that really, truly work for the under-six set. (Other five-year-olds may have loved these stories or even more sophisticated ones; every kid is different.) A few months or a year from now M will be at a different stage and the types of books she loves will grow and change. But there's no rush.

Summer outdoor bedtime read aloud with W

All this has renewed my love and belief in quality picture books for all ages.

As a first-grade teacher I would sometimes have parent-teacher conferences in which a parent would worry about the skills of their blossoming child, saying they thought he was using the pictures in books to guess what the words said. Some of these parents would even say they covered up the picture to make their child focus on the words! But there is a reason pictures are in books for young kids: pictures support the text and help with comprehension and word solving (it's a great sign if a beginning reader is using every bit of information on the page and multiple strategies to figure out an unfamiliar word, including looking at the pictures). Pictures also help engage them and get them hooked on books in general, pictures supply detail and richness to the experience and the conversations you can have, and sometimes pictures even (often comically, intentionally) say more, or say something different than, the text. (Think of Mercer Mayer's Little Critter books and how funny they are specifically because of this contradiction between text and illustration.) Pictures in picture books are a big part of the art form, and of the experience of coming to know and love books for young kids. When I was in the classroom I only chose to read one or two novels to my students in a year because there were just so many good picture books I wanted to share and so little time.

I also believe in continuing to read picture books to upper-elementary age kids. Firstly, plenty of older kids still need the support of pictures for reading itself or to aid comprehension. Also, picture books are a nice little package that you can read in one sitting; you can quickly accumulate many stories-- each with its own plot, setting, themes, character traits, conflict, resolution, writer's style-- that are not only pleasant shared experiences, but provide lots of opportunities to discuss, analyze, and compare. (I love the simple concept of reading a Book a Day for older-- even high-school-age-- students for these very reasons.) Beyond those benefits that any good picture book has for bigger kids, some picture books are specifically aimed at kids in 4th, 5th, 6th grade and beyond-- I am thinking of the clever word play of Miss Alaineus, the dark historical fiction Rose Blanche, Dr. Seuss's social commentary in books like The King's Stilts, or the opportunities for interpretation in rich stories like Roxaboxen.

For now, if I want to sit with my two kids and read aloud, picture books are still best for us. I pause a few times while reading-- but not too much-- for discussion. I might direct a higher-level question toward W and a more basic one toward M (though I wouldn't point that fact out to them). (This might include predicting what will happen next at a key point, inferring (why do you think she stomped out the room?), describing what a character is like, noticing details in the illustrations, or talking about what the characters learned.) And I remind myself that hearing stories isn't the only thing they can do and learn from together. Just as worthwhile are things like art projects, the blanket forts they build, the desserts they concoct together to surprise us, and the songs they teach each other on their respective instruments.

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Multi-Age Picture Books to Read Aloud
Here are just a few favorite picture books that are rich and interesting enough for olders, but still digestible and engaging for youngers. There are so many to choose from!

• Beatrice's Goat, Page McBrier
• Toot and Puddle, Holly Hobbie
• Fireflies, Julie Brinckloe
• Too Tall Houses, Gianna Marino
• books by Bill Peet
• Leo the Late Bloomer, Robert Kraus
• Tops and Bottoms, Janet Stevens
• Mirette on the High Wire, Emily Arnold McCully 
• Strega Nona, Tomie dePaola
• Christmas Trolls, Jan Brett
• Violet the Pilot, Steve Breen
• The Empty Pot, Demi
• Owl Moon, Jane Yolen
• Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, Mem Fox
• The White-Footed Mouse, Willem Lange
• Circus Ship and other books by Chris Van Dusen
• Ish, Peter H. Reynolds 
• and many more!

What are your recommendations for the best read alouds for multiple ages together, or for any age?