Ideas in Practice: Picture Books and Developmental Students

Picture storybooks should no longer be the possession of young children only. The genre has matured, and so has its uses. The use of picture storybooks by developmental educators can offer several benefits to underprepared college students. These deceptively simple books with their lavish illustrations and small amounts of text can provide interest and variety to the classroom, can offer self-confidence to hesitant and/or language-diverse students, and, most importantly, can easily and quickly remedy gaps in background knowledge for many different content areas. Examples of possible applications are included.