Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Visual Spatial Child "needs" pictures in books

Hi all,

I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this. My dd7 (who tested very high on VS IQ subtests) will still only read books that have pictures in them. She reads multiple years ahead of her age peerss. However, I cannot get her into reading chapter books on her own.

I thought it might be a developmental vision problem so I even try reading chapter books to her. She still complains and says "I need pictures, I can't picture it in my head..."

I don't get it She comprehends the stories without pictures but really doesn't enjoy them.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

DS6 was like that last year, until his teachers in 1st really pushed him in reading (and he took AR tests which fed into his need for extra pats on the back). What if you started slow, with non-picture books and have her draw what she thinks she might be reading about? Or, have her think about things she knows (i.e., if it's about a little girl's room, have her picture her room) to help relate? I'm not sure either will help. I'm sure other posters around here will have much better ideas.

She does love graphic novels. She'll read one of these each night and I have accepted it believing "at least she's reading.." The Warrior series has been a hit and brother has recommended she try Bone too. My hope is that this will be developmental and she'll graduate from these soon.
I love the idea of having her draw what the book is about. I'm going to try to get her to do that as I'm reading tonight.
She is my most imaginative, dramatic, in her own fantasy world sort of kid, this might have something to do with it

If she loves the Warriors graphic novels, would she try reading the regular Warriors series?

My DS5 has been capable of reading novels for a couple of years now but doesn't, and I'm assuming it's just a developmental thing. He also prefers books with illustrations, but not because he can't picture the story (I read the Warriors series aloud to him at night and he LOVES it). He just loves illustrations. He devours comic books and graphic novels, including the Warriors graphic novels, and loves to illustrate everything he writes. Even his teacher has commented on it. He's probably the only kid in his class who loves to illustrate his math problems!

I can completely relate to your daughter! I always had trouble with getting the pictures in my head "right" for a book I was reading. For example, houses in books tended to all end up with the same layout in my head, and this really bothered me. I worked really hard to try picture them differently. Same problem with historical novels, or anything where I wanted it to "look" right but just couldn't come up with the images. Sometimes it was too much work and I would give up on a book.

Come to think of it, I still have this problem as an adult! I'm a huge Jane Austen fan, but I was only able to read each of the books for the first time after watching one of the movie adaptations. Before that, all I could picture was modern people sitting around in a modern livingroom.

Anyway, back to what it was like for me as a kid: pictures, or at least a cover illustration, really helped, but only if they were good pictures. Bad pictures or the wrong picture on a cover were really upsetting! (Come to think of it, I still get upset when they take classic childrens books from my childhood and slap an awful new cover illustration on them!)

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, this may just be about how your daughter reacts emotionally to the experience of reading, and not any kind of a reading "problem."

On Warriors again, the novels have maps at the front that your daughter could study to get a mental image of the setting, and they have a character list that includes the color and breed of each cat to help her picture them.

I agree that you need her to start picturing things in her head as you read them to her. That is why it is hard for DD5 to keep reading chapter books. The adjustment to getting the picture in her head as she reads. There is a disconnect right now between the literal and the VS.

I must picture everything I hear or I don't know what I heard or read. But I have it down to "shorthand" pictures. But when I pull up that file I can remember everything, like a movie picture of details. It must have been a skill I naturally adapted. And since we are on top of everything our child does, they don't have the space to adapt their giftedness as they must, as we obviously did. I see the same tendencies in my child. So I don't worry, why isn't she reading to her level. Because she is VS and needs to adapt her skills of comprehension to her reading ability. Just the natural obstacles of VS but also what makes it such a great gift as they get older. The ability for them to understand and get the "full picture". But I do not think it just comes, it appears something that must be developed themselves. How they adapt. My guess. Which is probably not worth a cup of coffee -- at Dunkin, not Starbucks.

Ren

HI Spiritedmama -
have you tried to see what she does with NonFiction? There are some lovely 'coffee table' books with advanced topics and fabulous pictures. I hate to say it, but some highly gifted kids never really come to enjoy fiction.

My son, does read fiction from time to time, but doesn't devour it they way I did as a child. He would much rather I give a 5 mintue verbal synopsis than read a book that he doesn't just love. And he remembers what I tell him for years and years, because sometimes I ask him if he's read a particular book, and he word-for-word's my summary,(that I've forgotten) leading me to think that he has read it - until he says "No, I never read that one - you told me about it."

Our favorite 'grown up' picture books were the Dinotopia Series, and any of DK's single subject encyclopedias - particularly the one about mythology.

Enjoy,
Grinity

Another thought: Why not seek out chapter books with pictures? Maybe these aren't as common than they used to be, but libraries often have the older children's books with original illustrations.

My dd7 is also very visual. I asked her last night whether she liked pictures in her chapter books, she said she liked it a lot. She said she always had to imagine herself being in the story, being one of the characters saying such and such as in the story, so pictures help her imagine what things should look like easier.

I am also prob very visual myself since I really like books with beautiful pictures and have tried to choose those for dd when possible. Classics are easy to find with the beautifully illustrated version.

How does your dd do with early chapter books that have some pictures? Magic Tree House level still has pictures. Beyond that level my dd enjoys the great illustrated classic books, which I'm not crazy about because they are not beautiful pictures, but at least pictures every page and they made dd feel less intimidated.

Warriors series is also good for her to try since she already likes the graphic novel version. They have a book called "Cats of the Clans" that shows pictures of all characters in the series. It might help for her to see all the cats when reading the chapter book version.

If all these don't seem to work now, I'd say let her enjoy picture books with beautiful pictures as much as she wants. Many of them are pretty high in reading level and often have great vocabulary.

hth,
--
dd5