We somewhat accidentally stumbled onto exactly this a few months ago. We took our daughters to the Adelaide 500 after which they were infatuated with race cars for 2-3 weeks. We went to library and discovered the are virtually no children's books on race cars (side note: as your kids develop various interests you quickly discover how narrow the topics actually are for published children's books!) but we went to the "coffee table photo book of race cars" section and found several that sated them.
Right now they are super into drawing and love "how to draw books" we get from the library. Though they are 3 and can't actually follow the instructions so usually it eventually ends up with them asking me to draw for them.
I think getting kids comfortable with "reading" (whatever that means for pre-readers) on their own is a great goal for parents. As you say it is way way way better than just turning on some video in the morning when need time to cook/dress/whatever.
This is such a great tip. For now my kids go to look at the books that I have read to them before. My youngest, just turned 3 would even "read to herself", words that she can remember or sometimes even in German although I've read to her in English. My son will also flip again and again his favorite storybooks. I never thought that a book that I've not read to them before would be interesting for them to look. I'll get some from the local library and try this out! Thank you!
Love this! My son loves search and find books as looking books: Find Momo, all the classics Disney search and finds. One of my 2025 goals is to work on quiet time with him, and this seems like a good strategy to employ!
My secret weapon for quiet time was always audiobooks -- I got my kids little CD players they could operate on their own. (I wrote about this in a lot more depth here, if you're interested: https://canweread.substack.com/p/how-can-we-read-ask-me-anything?utm_source=publication-search) Also, I gave them toys they only had access to during this time -- this not only kept them busy, they actually looked forward to quiet time because they got to play with these things that were otherwise off-limits.
Second on the CD audiobooks! My 3rd grade reader took a minute to get to reading on her own but her comprehension skills are above grade level thanks to hundreds (thousands?) of hours of books on CD and reading with us!
This is brilliant! We use looking books for the car, but they are mostly search-and-find. I hadn't thought about art or photography books, and I certainly didn't know about these child-focused art books. Thank you!!
Love this! We recently updated a room now that our kids are older but they still gravitate to the room and sit around the coffee table and chat. I think I'll rotate "looking books" so they'll grab a book and explore.
Love this so much - never considered it really as a separate part of our reading life, since the kids do it so much on their own - we have the benefit of having space for lots of bookshelves in the house, so lots of nooks for reading. My son, 6, has been carrying around and reading/looking at a Battles book (not my ideal but he's very into it!).
I didn't even realize this was a 'thing' but yes we did this too! Mostly because I also wanted to peruse the art/photo books myself, but also because the ones of animals (like that Joel Sartore one) was sooo fascinating to my kids.
I missed out on Stephen Bisty books though - I never knew those existed until I put them in our bookstore's inventory last year! (oh wait! That author is Richard Orr - Stephen Bisty has cool cross-sections too!)
I don’t know if it really *is* a thing — I’ve never heard anyone else talk about it or call it this — I just made this term up. But I think a lot of kids have this experience and it’s kind of a hidden aspect of reading because people don’t think of it “real,” especially when the readers doing it are pre-readers and not actually decoding the words on the page.
Oh my gosh, reading this made me realize that these kinds of books were honestly my favorite as a kid. I think these kind of books help across the literacy spectrum. I had many other struggles and developmental issues as a kid, but reading wasn't one of them, and I don't ever remember not being able to read. In other words I was able to read to myself from pretty much when I can remember? And these Looking Books were still my favorite, because it made me feel grown up. These books opened huge horizons that regular storybooks didn't. I still keep a stack of these kind of books on the shelves under the TV. I've always just thought of them as "coffee table books" but this explains so much more about why they've felt so powerful to me.
I remember talking to you about the "face magazine"! It's hold on her still has a hold on me. I think magazines, and namely gossip magazines/blogs are "looking books" for grownups. This also made me think about 750 Years in Paris(https://www.abebooks.com/9781907704932/750-Years-Paris-1907704930/plp) - a book that I keep on my shelf (and you know how special that it is for me to keep it) - a book that I found so interesting and engaging that I poured over the images and felt transported and like a million stories could emerge. What a gift to have images and letters exist at the same time.
Thank you for this! Just ordered a few of these and I'm especially looking forward to the Read-Along Handbook for myself. I'm super interested in what they have to say about graphic novels! I've read a couple of these with my 4 y.o., but feel like kind of a dork narrating what I see/filling in the narrative and thoughts/feelings of characters when they aren't spelled out and need to be gleaned by "looking". We love the book Dewdrop by Katie O'Neill, but again, I'm not sure I'm doing the best job guiding her through this type of book.
I’m sure you’re going a great job — and for what it’s worth, 4yo might be young for a graphic novel. You’re the best judge, but if you don’t feel it’s “working” — that is, your kiddo (or you!) aren’t enjoying it, then put them aside and come back again in awhile or a few years. That’s always an option, with any format or any book.
I love the name for this! Our kiddos love National Geographic books and a gems book has been a favorite this week - so random you featured another one!
My youngest, when she was a tot, loved this series of books, which we found at our local library. It was only after we’d got a few of them out that we learnt they’re actually intended for people with dementia. They’re very beautiful actually. https://www.helenbatebooks.com/other-work/pictures-to-share
We somewhat accidentally stumbled onto exactly this a few months ago. We took our daughters to the Adelaide 500 after which they were infatuated with race cars for 2-3 weeks. We went to library and discovered the are virtually no children's books on race cars (side note: as your kids develop various interests you quickly discover how narrow the topics actually are for published children's books!) but we went to the "coffee table photo book of race cars" section and found several that sated them.
Right now they are super into drawing and love "how to draw books" we get from the library. Though they are 3 and can't actually follow the instructions so usually it eventually ends up with them asking me to draw for them.
I think getting kids comfortable with "reading" (whatever that means for pre-readers) on their own is a great goal for parents. As you say it is way way way better than just turning on some video in the morning when need time to cook/dress/whatever.
This is such a great tip. For now my kids go to look at the books that I have read to them before. My youngest, just turned 3 would even "read to herself", words that she can remember or sometimes even in German although I've read to her in English. My son will also flip again and again his favorite storybooks. I never thought that a book that I've not read to them before would be interesting for them to look. I'll get some from the local library and try this out! Thank you!
Oh yes -- kids are interested in pictures, just like adults! I'd love to hear how this goes for you.
Love this! My son loves search and find books as looking books: Find Momo, all the classics Disney search and finds. One of my 2025 goals is to work on quiet time with him, and this seems like a good strategy to employ!
My secret weapon for quiet time was always audiobooks -- I got my kids little CD players they could operate on their own. (I wrote about this in a lot more depth here, if you're interested: https://canweread.substack.com/p/how-can-we-read-ask-me-anything?utm_source=publication-search) Also, I gave them toys they only had access to during this time -- this not only kept them busy, they actually looked forward to quiet time because they got to play with these things that were otherwise off-limits.
I wrote about search-and-find books recently, if you're looking for some additional titles for your son: https://canweread.substack.com/p/childrens-search-and-find-books?utm_source=publication-search
Second on the CD audiobooks! My 3rd grade reader took a minute to get to reading on her own but her comprehension skills are above grade level thanks to hundreds (thousands?) of hours of books on CD and reading with us!
This is brilliant! We use looking books for the car, but they are mostly search-and-find. I hadn't thought about art or photography books, and I certainly didn't know about these child-focused art books. Thank you!!
You’re welcome!
Love this! We recently updated a room now that our kids are older but they still gravitate to the room and sit around the coffee table and chat. I think I'll rotate "looking books" so they'll grab a book and explore.
That’s a great idea, and yes, looking books are for older kiddos too! We’re visual creatures. Even adults.
Love this so much - never considered it really as a separate part of our reading life, since the kids do it so much on their own - we have the benefit of having space for lots of bookshelves in the house, so lots of nooks for reading. My son, 6, has been carrying around and reading/looking at a Battles book (not my ideal but he's very into it!).
I didn't even realize this was a 'thing' but yes we did this too! Mostly because I also wanted to peruse the art/photo books myself, but also because the ones of animals (like that Joel Sartore one) was sooo fascinating to my kids.
I missed out on Stephen Bisty books though - I never knew those existed until I put them in our bookstore's inventory last year! (oh wait! That author is Richard Orr - Stephen Bisty has cool cross-sections too!)
I don’t know if it really *is* a thing — I’ve never heard anyone else talk about it or call it this — I just made this term up. But I think a lot of kids have this experience and it’s kind of a hidden aspect of reading because people don’t think of it “real,” especially when the readers doing it are pre-readers and not actually decoding the words on the page.
Oh my gosh, reading this made me realize that these kinds of books were honestly my favorite as a kid. I think these kind of books help across the literacy spectrum. I had many other struggles and developmental issues as a kid, but reading wasn't one of them, and I don't ever remember not being able to read. In other words I was able to read to myself from pretty much when I can remember? And these Looking Books were still my favorite, because it made me feel grown up. These books opened huge horizons that regular storybooks didn't. I still keep a stack of these kind of books on the shelves under the TV. I've always just thought of them as "coffee table books" but this explains so much more about why they've felt so powerful to me.
“I think these kind of books help across the literacy spectrum.” 1000%
I remember talking to you about the "face magazine"! It's hold on her still has a hold on me. I think magazines, and namely gossip magazines/blogs are "looking books" for grownups. This also made me think about 750 Years in Paris(https://www.abebooks.com/9781907704932/750-Years-Paris-1907704930/plp) - a book that I keep on my shelf (and you know how special that it is for me to keep it) - a book that I found so interesting and engaging that I poured over the images and felt transported and like a million stories could emerge. What a gift to have images and letters exist at the same time.
Yes, I know you remember the face magazine 😂😂
I read (and loved) 750 Years in Paris because of you!
Thank you for this! Just ordered a few of these and I'm especially looking forward to the Read-Along Handbook for myself. I'm super interested in what they have to say about graphic novels! I've read a couple of these with my 4 y.o., but feel like kind of a dork narrating what I see/filling in the narrative and thoughts/feelings of characters when they aren't spelled out and need to be gleaned by "looking". We love the book Dewdrop by Katie O'Neill, but again, I'm not sure I'm doing the best job guiding her through this type of book.
I’m sure you’re going a great job — and for what it’s worth, 4yo might be young for a graphic novel. You’re the best judge, but if you don’t feel it’s “working” — that is, your kiddo (or you!) aren’t enjoying it, then put them aside and come back again in awhile or a few years. That’s always an option, with any format or any book.
I love the name for this! Our kiddos love National Geographic books and a gems book has been a favorite this week - so random you featured another one!
My youngest, when she was a tot, loved this series of books, which we found at our local library. It was only after we’d got a few of them out that we learnt they’re actually intended for people with dementia. They’re very beautiful actually. https://www.helenbatebooks.com/other-work/pictures-to-share
Oh wow, I love these! Thanks for adding the link.