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The Whole Book Approach

My Book

This exce rpt from my book, Reading Picture Books with Children: How to Shake Up Storytime and Get Kids Talking about What They See provides an overview of my development of the Whole Book Approach, a co-constructive (interactive) storytime model that I developed in association with the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

I think of the Whole Book Approach as a means of reading with children, as opposed to reading to them, as it invites children to make meaning of text, art, and design-the whole book!

Visit the The Carle's page about its Educational Philosophy to learn about how the Whole Book Approach fits in with its educational programming.
Interested in adapting the Whole Book Approach for online storytimes? Check out this post I wrote for my publisher, Charlesbridge:
Whole Book Approach Storytime Sets for grades Pre-K to 5

My Steps To Literacy Whole Book Approach Storytime Sets are launching in March 2020!
Each Set for grades Pre-K - 5 includes a sturdy bin filled with:

A Whole Book Approach Storytime Guide that I wrote for each grade level, with customized storytime discussion plans, extension activities and resources for all 10 curated books, and. . .

"A Message from Megan" introducing the Whole Book Approach and offering additional Critical Literacy resources

A copy of my book, Reading Picture Books With Children: How to Shake Up Storytime and Get Kids Talking about What They See (written in association with The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, and published by Charlesbridge)

New in August 2020 Whole Book Approach Storytime Guides and Bundles

Due to many requests, Whole Book Approach Storytime Guides are available as stand-alone purchases from Steps To Literacy! You can still purchase full Sets described above, but this is a way for people to purchase individual Guides instead, if they'd rather do so. We are also bundling Guides with RPBWC in an Early Childhood Set that includes pre-k through 2nd grade Guides, but not the curated picture books. Coming soon will be an Upper Elementary Set with 3rd-5th Guides and RPBWC.

Find out more at this link, and please help spread the word!

The Whole Book Approach and Critical Literacy

Recently I've been working on various projects that explore how Whole Book Approach storytimes can support children's critical engagement with picture book representations of race, gender, class, and other aspects of identity in characterization. See my work with EmbraceRace and MERGE for Equality for more information about this developing area of my work.

I'm also pleased that the Doors to the World initiative is including the Whole Book Approach in its resources for educators. Here's to "making global children's picture books and teaching resources available to PreK to Grade 3 teachers" and fostering critical reading.

Picture Book Month Tweets

Throughout Picture Book Month, November 2016, I did daily tweet threads using the Whole Book Approach. Here is my blog post with links to every thread (you don't need to have a Twitter account to access the threads). And, here is the list of all 375 picture books mentioned in these threads. Some books on the list were recommended by readers, others are included on my 2017 Mock Caldecott list.

Links for articles and interviews about Reading Picture Books with Children and the Whole Book Approach:

Author/illustrator Anne Sibley-O'Brien wrote this piece on using the Whole Book Approach for the Fall 2019 SCBWI Bulletin: The Illustrator's Perspective: Picture Meaning.

School librarian Cari Young from Library Learners has written chapter-by-chapter blog posts about my book on her site in Spring 2017.

My guest blog post at Hilltown Families gives an overview of the Whole Book Approach. Posted December 12, 2016

Ellen Myrick's review of Reading Picture Books with Children on the Bound to Stay Bound website. Posted November 2, 2016

This Publisher's Weekly article gives a great summary of the talk I gave at Book Fest @ Bank Street within an overview of the entire day's activities. Posted October 31, 2016

Go to the 2:05 mark at this KidLit TV link to see the interactive talk I gave at the Book Fest at Bank Street, and check out the other speakers and panels, too. Posted October 23, 2016

The Picture Book as "Object?" Yes, THE STEAM of PBs by Kathy Halsey, posted at GROG on June 23, 2016

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art Sowing the Seeds Summer 2016 Newsletter

Valley Kids interview June/July 2016

DIYMFA podcast with Gabriela Pereira May 18, 2016

Jbrary review by Lindsey Krabbenhoff April 13, 2016

School Library Journal Webcast with me, Charlesbridge editor Yolanda Scott, and Carle Museum educator Emily Prabhaker March 9, 2016

Book Marketing Buzz Blog by Brian Feinblum February 10, 2016

Kirkus Reviews article by Julie Danielson January 21, 2016

Bay State Parent interview by Jennifer Sheehy Everett January 2016

Two Writing Teachers interview by Stacy Shubitz December 17, 2015

Watch this video of editor Yolanda Scott on KidLit College describing the Whole Book Approach November 13, 2015

Whole Book Approach Storytime Stories

It's been so wonderful to hear from readers who are using the Whole Book Approach after reading Reading Picture Books with Children: How to Shake Up Storytime and Get Kids Talking about What They See. Reading with my own children at home played a huge part in my development of the Whole Book Approach. In this throwback photo I'm reading with five of my kids-all of whom are now book-loving tweens and teens.

When I read with my sons and daughters we naturally do a lot of stopping and talking about text, art, and design, and I try to let them set the pace of these readings so that their questions, comments, and responses to my questions are an integral part of our reading. I want to bring this same interactive spirit to the storytimes I lead. I never want discussions to feel like we are just interrupting a book; I want them to feel like they are enriching our experience of story, art, and design.

I'll use the space below to post reader comments that I've received about how using Whole Book Approach techniques has enriched the storytime practice of librarians and teachers who've read my book, and I'll also post reflections from booksellers, professors, writers, illustrators, and parents and other caregivers.

This morning, on an outreach visit, I found myself in an awkward situation... The daycare provider forgot I was coming and only had one child there- a 7 year old. And all of my materials were geared towards the 2-5 year olds I usually see on my outreach visits. But, because I was currently reading Megan Dowd Lambert's "Reading Picture Books With Children" I was able to put into practice the whole book approach...The first book I grabbed was Sam and Dave Dig a Hole and it was PERFECT for exploring the whole book... Upon asking "do you know what spectacular is" and that combined with the fact that the two were digging a hole the 7 year old said "It could be something spectacular like another dimension!" already, I was blown away. We took time to really look at each picture- each part of the illustrations. After we read the book he enjoyed comparing the house in the first few pictures to the one at the end... he even recognized that the endpapers were red and green to correspond to the fruit on the trees at the beginning and end!

Thanks to this book it wasn't an awkward situation. I learned a lot, and so did the 7 year old. We really explored this book together. If you haven't checked out "Reading Picture Books With Children" I highly recommend you do so! - Meg, posted on Storytime Underground March 20, 2017

"Thank you! I have been a teacher/storyteller/librarian(secret writer) for over 40 years. Your book affirmed my interactive style of sharing books with kids and opened my eyes to focusing on the art! -Jan, reader email received February 2017

Here's a blog post from Reading is Better than Chocolate about leading a Whole Book Approach storytime with one of my favorite picture books, Last Stop on Market Street. Posted 11/17/2016

I've been using these methods for several weeks now at my daughters' school library and the results are indeed astonishing at times. By giving children the time and space to explore the physical book and the artwork as much as the words, so much more can be learned. Very rarely do children lose interest and the true challenge lies in keeping the pace moving so we don't run out of time. I recommend this book very highly to anyone who reads picture books to children, whether your own at home or larger groups in educational or library settings. Annie posted 10/8/2016

I'm an illustrator passionate about nature, science and the environment. I volunteer at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery in Fort Collins. I've been working with them to develop a new program called "Storytime in the Dome". Earlier this summer I was at the 21st Century Nonfiction Conference and Alyssa Mito Pusey of Charlesbridge Publishing mentioned your book, Reading Picture Books with Children. I picked up a copy and it's wonderful! We're using your whole book approach for our story time event and it really made it a fun, interactive experience. I just wanted to say "Thanks so much and I look forward to your future books". - Cathy July 2016

I've been a children's librarian for 3 ½ years and led countless storytimes. But now I realize how much I've been missing, and failing to pass on to the children, and I can't wait to put the Whole Book Approach into practice. We've had a two-week hiatus from our weekly storytimes, but we start up again this week and I'm hoping to try a modified version of the whole book approach and ease into doing more and more over time. I have a bit of a tough crowd since my group is the two-year-olds. I admit that sometimes I'm just happy if they stay relatively engaged and focused on the stories until we move on to what most of them really seem to want most: the music and movement part of the program. But I've been taking a good look at the front and back covers and end papers and all the other parts of the book I neglected to notice previously, and I'm eager to share some of my new discoveries with the children. My co-workers and I also take turns leading a craft and story time for 3-7 year olds and I'm in the planning stages for my next one. I've been planning brown bear stories and a brown bear craft, (sound familiar? J) but now I'm thinking that the possibilities are quite endless for me to try something a little different. I'm excited to try using the whole book instead of just focusing on the story. A Visitor for Bear was already on my list, so I was delighted to see it used as an example in your book. In fact, I've been happily running to our picture book shelves on a daily basis to find the books to which you referred throughout the book and I feel like a whole new world is opening up to me. Although I focused on children's services when I was studying for my library degree, my coursework in children's literature never focused on picture book format. So here I am taking my own crash course, and loving it. I'm also so glad that I bought a copy of your book because I can share it with my colleagues, mark it up, and refer to it often. Thanks so much for including practical advice and suggested questions, and for opening my eyes to look at picture books in a whole new way. -Renée May 2016

What a wonderful book! Thank you for putting into such an accessible text, a philosophy I have long subscribed to. I developed a two hour workshop around your notion of the whole book approach and delivered it to our teachers just yesterday. I guided them through the approach with a section of beautiful high quality picture books. The wonder in their eyes, their on-task behaviour, their excitement in their voices as they encountered so many a-hah moments was a joy to watch. And much of this from seasoned secondary (high) high school teachers! Thank you again for this book - it has made a real difference to me and to our teachers. Meredith, April 2016

Thanks to Prof. Susanna Richard for sharing these photos of her graduate students from Eastern Connecticut State University using the Whole Book Approach in one of their classes:

I just got a copy of Reading Picture Books With Children at my library, and I read it immediately! I really loved it and all your ideas about sharing books. Of course, I already knew you were a great writer from the pieces you've done for Children and Libraries in the past, but this was truly eye-opening for me, both as a writer and a librarian. And I loved the story especially about the kids getting images of Max's mom based on Pierre! I had never thought of that! All your examples were really fun for me to consider and go back and look at the books myself. Thanks for a great title; I'll be sharing it with all my colleagues, and I'm now inspired to read books with my daughter in a different way! Keep up the great work!" - Sharon, February 2016

I saw your interview with SLJ, and it made me want to share a WBA-related story from one of my storytimes. I was reading David Miles and Natalie Hoopes' Bookwith two third-grade patrons today in a rural library. When I asked what a "book about books" might mean, one patron noted that it might be a book with "fake books" in it. The other patron noticed the strips of pages used to decorate the book, and decided that the book was, rather, made of other books. Halfway through reading the book, that patron also told me I was saying book too much. So, rather than say the word when it came up in the text or in our discussion, I would pause and shut my lips tight. They loved that I wouldn't allow myself to say "book," and I loved that they thought it was so funny! Perhaps my favorite observation came when we returned to the endpapers at the end of the book. In our original discussion of the endpapers-a collage of a series of letters in different scripts-the patrons noticed how some letters were "normal" and others were "fancy." The fancy letters reminded them of fairytales. This might explain why both patrons had been noticing a strange tentacle/vine/dragon tail hidden in some of the pictures throughout the book. The identity of this creature is never revealed, but one patron suggested that the "fancy" letters in the endpapers might be placed together to spell the identity of the creature. We weren't able to discover if that was true or not (in part because of how libraries tape the slipcover). But I just thought it was so cool-not to mention an excellent idea for a picture book! My favorite thing about using WBA is that it teaches children to really stop and read the pictures. I once read a Pete the Cat book to a preschooler and he was actually irritated when a shoe color that appeared in the endpapers didn't appear in the story. I used it as an opportunity to discuss what might happen with those other shoes. Would the green shoes step in goo? The yellow sho es in bananas? I could share so many more stories. But, for now, I'll just say thank you (again) for teaching me how to read pictures. -Alec, February 2016

I recently devoured Reading Picture Books With Children and have been implementing several of the Whole Book and VTS strategies with my students. The Whole Book model impressed me so much...Thanks so much for your insight, passion, and wisdom! - Emmie, February 2016

I just wanted to let you know that I've now read your book, and it is terrific. I'm assigning it as required reading for my twenty-seven students in "Art and Story: The Story of Picturebook Art," which starts February 22nd. I know students will appreciate the approachability of your book! -Marianne, February 2016

Yesterday I received your book Reading Picture Books with Children. I was so exhausted last night, I could only get through the forward and introduction. I woke up this morning, grabbed my coffee and read the first three chapters before I had to get ready to go to school and put on my school librarian hat. I couldn't wait to try new things I learned in the first three chapters. I read You Are (not) Small to prek, k and 1st graders. Your approach made for the best library time I've had in over 20 years. The conversations were rich, insightful, organic and allowed the children to really experience the art as a part of the telling experience of the story. I threw out those structured CCSS lessons and just let it happen. I am so thankful for your book, I emailed many people about it today. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for such an eye opener written in a format that isn't stuffy, but approachable. -Ann, November 2015

There are very few books out there on how to read to children that have anything new and innovative to report and yet I felt curious and drawn to Megan Dowd Lambert's book that caught my eye while at PNBA. I thought I knew quite a bit and am quite the dynamic story time reader but upon reading this book, I feel like I have a whole new direction to take story time. I am so thankful that this book is so well written and the pacing allowed me to devour it in a couple hours and easily read it word for word and cover to cover and I admit that I took some time to notice the endpapers and took the paper cover off to peek within. I am ecstatic with invigorated book curiosity as a result of the questions posed within this book from the size and shape of the book to the books gutter and even the spine of the book...This book is spectacular...Thank you so much for finally providing a worthwhile and much needed book and I promise I will help get it into as many hands as I can as well as using it to transform our bookstore's story times using the Whole Book Approach! -Jesica, October 2015

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The Whole Book Approach - Megan Dowd Lambert

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The Whole Book Approach My Book This excerpt from my book, Reading Picture Books with Children: How to Shake Up Storytime and Get Kids Talking about What They See provides an overview of my development of the Whole Book Approach, a co-constructive (interactive) ... Continue reading →

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Lily takes a walk : Kitamura, Satoshi : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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Lily enjoys walks with her dog Nicky, not realizing he is fending off unseen monsters all along the way

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The Carle is the international champion for picture books. We collect, preserve, and present picture books and picture-book illustrations for audiences passionate about children's literature.

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A museum devoted to collecting, preserving, and presenting picture books and picture-book illustrations for audiences passionate about children's literature.

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SchoolTube - Safe video sharing and management for K12

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Rosie's walk : Hutchins, Pat, 1942-2017, author : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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Millie's Marvellous Hat - Satoshi Kitamura

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Millie's Marvellous Hat - Satoshi Kitamura

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Millies Marvellous Hat - Flip eBook Pages 1-36 | AnyFlip

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View flipping ebook version of Millies Marvellous Hat published by jiamingyee on 2022-03-01. Interested in flipbooks about Millies Marvellous Hat? Check more flip ebooks related to Millies Marvellous Hat of jiamingyee. Share Millies Marvellous Hat everywhere for free.

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Gorilla : Browne, Anthony, 1946- author, illustrator : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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March 20th is Very Hungry Caterpillar Day! What better way to celebrate than to read the book to your children and then do some of these activities in honor of both Eric Carle and caterpillars/butterflies. Children will love these fun, hands-on activities that will make sure they never forget the story of this very hungry caterpillar.

1. Watermelon Playdough

Children will love "eating" through a watermelon just like the hungry caterpillars. Have them create little watermelon seeds using playdough, roll dice, and then add that many "seeds" to their watermelons. They will practice their counting skills with this fun hands-on activity.

Learn more: Preschool Play and Learn

2. Cupcake Liner Caterpillars

The best thing about this activity is children will be able to both recreate an Eric Carle caterpillar and butterfly using cupcake liners! Let kids show their creativity by letting them pick out which colors they want to use for their little critters. Then finish off their caterpillars with something we all love--googly eyes!

Learn more: In the Playroom

3. Fruit Munch Activity

Children will practice their fine motor skills with this fun caterpillar hole punch activity by Modern Preschool. Have them use hole punchers to munch through the fruit just like the caterpillar did.

Learn more: Modern Preschool

4. Egg Carton Caterpillar

This craft for preschoolers will have all children engaged as they cut out their bumpy caterpillars from egg cartons and paint both their egg cartons and strawberries. In the end, they will have adorable caterpillars!

Learn more: Crafty Morning

5. Marshmallow Painting

This fun caterpillar painting activity involves two things children love--paint and marshmallows. They will have fun dipping their marshmallows in paint to create their caterpillars (and maybe even eat a few marshmallows in the process).

Learn more: Puffin Books

6. Very Hungry Caterpillar Story Retelling

Story retelling is important in improving reading comprehension. Use printouts like the ones provided in this link to help students retell the story of the very hungry caterpillar as he makes his way through all of the fruit and other foods!

Learn more: Kindergarten Works

7. Caterpillar Fruit Pizzas

Using sugar cookie dough and sliced fruit, have children create their own fruit pizzas with this fun caterpillar craft that they can eat after they complete! Students will have fun creating their own unique caterpillar fruit pizzas.

Learn more: A Little Pinch of Perfects

One thing kids love as much as books are puzzles. This link shows you how to make your own caterpillar puzzle. Children will have fun putting the pieces back together. Laminate the pieces to use them for a long time!

Learn more: Parenting Chaos

9. Bead Caterpillars

Children will love making their own little wriggly caterpillars. Use pipe cleaners for the caterpillar body and beads to decorate to make fun, unique caterpillars. Kids will have fun racing their new little pets around the room.

Learn more: Make and Takes

10. Food Sensory Activity

This activity encourages healthy eating while letting children explore the different foods. Use a toothpick or skewer to poke a hole in each food to shower where the caterpillar ate through each. You may notice that a couple of the foods in the picture don't match those in the book. That's okay! You can improvise with what you have on hand and discuss the differences between the book with your children.

Learn more: A Little Pinch of Perfect

11. Whimsical Caterpillars

An activity for school-age children, the provided link takes you to a lesson plan on how to create classroom whimsical caterpillars. You can have students create their own caterpillars, or you can make it a collaborative caterpillar project and have each student make one portion of a giant caterpillar.

Learn more: School Specialty

12. Caterpillar Headbands

These fun caterpillar headbands will have students wandering around the room looking for different items they, too, can eat through to grow big enough! Follow the link provided for a printable headband template.

Learn more: Lakeshore

13. Caterpillar Necklaces

Bri Reads provides printable food and caterpillar pieces for you to print and cut out to make your own caterpillar necklace. Children will have fun coloring and then stringing together their necklaces. You can have them retell the story by putting their food items in the order in which the caterpillar ate them.

Learn more: Bri Reads

14. Flying Butterfly Craft

What does the caterpillar turn into at the end of the book? A beautiful butterfly! Follow the directions in the attached video to create fun, cute "flying" butterflies. You can even hang them from your classroom ceiling after for all to enjoy!

Learn more: Paper Magic

15. M&M Caterpillars

This toddler-approved activity will have all children engaged! Have them practice both their counting and color recognition skills by putting different colored candies on their caterpillars. And who doesn't love an activity you can eat at the end?

Learn more: Toddler Approved

16. Butterfly Symmetry Activity

Teach the concept of symmetry by having children do this symmetrical butterfly activity. They will have fun painting half the butterfly, folding it in half, and then opening it to see their creations! Take it a step further and search online for different, more complex butterfly templates.

Learn more: Learning At The Primary Pond

17. Fruit Kabobs

Have children create their own fruit kabobs using the fruits the very hungry caterpillar ate through. Have them count as they put each piece of fruit onto their kabobs. After, they will have fun eating their own caterpillar snack! You can use the fruits used in the story or use what you have on hand.

Learn more: Make and Takes

18. Caterpillar Name Activity

Children can practice multiple skills with this activity--cutting, pasting, and handwriting. Have them glue their caterpillars to paper and then write the letters of their name on each different portion of their caterpillars. Oh, and don't forget to draw on the legs!

Learn more: Pinterest

19. Tissue Paper Caterpillars

This project takes a couple of days to complete, as children have to let their tissue paper caterpillars dry before they draw on the other details! During this time, you can talk about how the caterpillar also needed time in his cocoon before he could turn into a butterfly.

Learn more: Teach Preschool

20. 3D Caterpillar

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The 20 Best Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities - Teaching Expertise

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March 20th is Very Hungry Caterpillar Day! What better way to celebrate than to read the book to your children and then do some of these activities in honor

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La metafora visual en el album ilustrado

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Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Texts, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine

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Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library offering free universal access to texts, movies & music, as well as 624 billion archived web pages.

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Developing Children’s Language Skills and Visual Literacy Through Picturebooks 

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Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse - Leo Lionni

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Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse - Leo Lionni

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Lionni Leo - Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse

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A 2025 Petalpeter Production for Alina Botta

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Frederick - Flip eBook Pages 1-28 | AnyFlip

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View flipping ebook version of Frederick published by Luciana CABRAL on 2021-06-29. Interested in flipbooks about Frederick? Check more flip ebooks related to Frederick of Luciana CABRAL. Share Frederick everywhere for free.

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Alfabetización Visual: Redescubriendo el potencial de los libros album