Picture Books: Enjoyable at Any Age

Is it possible to find books for older learners that are easy to read, but aren’t too childish? Absolutely. There has never been a better time to find picture books that can engage both young adults and more mature readers.

Your bookstore or online bookseller stocks a wide array of interesting titles that your adult learners will find appealing.In addition to fiction, you’ll find biographies, history, and science in picture-book format. Many older learners prefer nonfiction, and publishers are now meeting the market for informational texts.

Why do we recommend picture books for beginning readers of all ages?

Have you ever been assigned reading that was difficult for you? Did you look ahead for pictures, and sighed with relief when you found them? Do you occasionally turn to illustrated magazines for easy reading? Our struggling readers feel the same way, and might be overwhelmed by pages filled only with text.

We want reading to be an enjoyable experience in which our students find the joy of obtaining meaning from the text.The presence of appropriate pictures gives extra clues to finding that meaning.

Think of learning to read in the same way as learning to ride a bicycle. First the parent holds the bike upright, then gradually releases control to the beginning cyclist. Pictures in books serve the same purpose–they provide support to the beginning reader, and will become less necessary as the learner becomes more proficient.

The following books represent just a fraction of the engaging titles available for older readers:

Allan Fowler’s Rookie Read-About Series
Picture Biographies by David A. Adler
DK Readers
If You Series
Nonfiction
Fiction