Do you read picture books with older kids? Could this be a picture book year for your family?

RAR Team
L to R Kara Kortney Sarah

Today, the whole RAR crew is chatting picture books – and why it’s a great idea to read them with your bigger kids too!

In today’s episode, you’ll hear:

  • Kortney’s simple and systematic approach to reading picture books
  • how to do “classroom book a day” with your kids at home
  • where to find great picture books recommendations

This episode is just what you need to kick-start a picture book habit this year!

Click the play button below:

Listener Guide

Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast:

  • 3:15 How Kortney Uses Picture Books
  • 7:34 Author Surprises
  • 10:12 Classroom Book-A-Day
  • 13:30 Picture Books as Research
  • 14:56 Building ‘The Read-Aloud Family’ Book Lists
  • 16:49 Benefits of a Book a Day
  • 19:45 Simple, Open-Ended Questions
  • 23:57 Empathy and History
  • 27:24 Beautiful Art
  • 29:19 Books for the commitment-averse
  • 32:32 Rich Language
  • 34:03 Where to Find Picture Books
  • 36:02 A Challenge for You

In this episode …

  • A simple framework for reading more picture books with your kids:

Kortney uses a simple system for sharing picture books with her kids – she follows the alphabet. Consider using the alphabet or diving deep into an author’s work!

Sarah suggests finding a ‘framework’ that works for your family to reduce overwhelm.

  • Could you read a #classroombookaday?

We talked about the #classroombookaday movement, started by Jillian Heise that encourages classroom teachers to read a picture book out loud with their students every single day- even students as old as 7th or 8th grade.

  • The best part – conversations

When you read picture books with your kids, you can cover a lot of ground and read many more stories than you can when you stick to only longer-form stories.

The best part? When you read a picture book every day with your kids, you have the opportunity to have great, meaningful discussions with your kids about the topics you encounter in all of those stories.

  • Use picture books for research

“A picture book is going to have the same information that an encyclopedia entry has, except that it’s going to have beautiful language, it’s going to have illustrations that help you expand on the ideas. It’s going to have all the things that really light that fire of imagination.”

Great research often starts with picture books! In fact, this is just what author Caroline Starr Rose does.

  • The benefits of reading picture books with older kids

There are so many benefits of reading lots of books together. Keep reading and chatting – you’ll be amazed what your kids learn! We mention a few of our favorite picture books to read with older kids– and you’ll find those linked below.

Books from this episode:

(All links are affiliate links.)

The Essential Calvin and Hobbes: a Calvin and Hobbes Treasury
Boxes for Katje
Castle
The Mary Celeste: An Unsolved Mystery from History
Wonder
Last Stop on Market Street
Big Anthony and the Magic Ring
Are You My Mother
If You Were Born a Kitten
¡Corre, perro, corre!
The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus (Trophy Picture Books (Paperback))
Quiet in the Garden
Roanoke: The Lost Colony–An Unsolved Mystery from History
Show Way
Storybook Art: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of 100 Great Picture Book Illustrators (Bright Ideas for Learning)
The Hobbit
Go, Dog. Go!
The Complete Peanuts Family Album: The Ultimate Guide to Charles M. Schulz’s Classic Characters

You’ll also enjoy:

More free resources and booklists

Get the best episodes and reources
from the Read-Aloud Revival

Powered by ConvertKit