Picture books are an important and accessible form of visual art for children because they offer, among other things, opportunities for making connections to personal experiences and to the values and beliefs of families and communities. This paper reports on the use of a picture book to promote Year 4 students' making of text-to-self connections,…

Argues that picture books pose difficulties for young children who are not yet equipped to interpret them. (AEW)

Examines the purposes children believe illustrations serve in story books. Indicates, based on comments of 26 first graders who read a book and commented on the illustrations, that (1) advanced readers saw illustrations as distinct from text, (2) median readers saw a close relationship between pictures and text, and (3) beginning readers…

Records the attempts of a very young child to construct his own understanding of what it means to die and of the social impact of death within his own culture. Includes transcripts in which the child uses narrative to frame his first, tentative ideas about death and responds to literature to further extend his understanding. (JD)