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

My DD4 told me yesterday that as she gets older her books will have black and white pictures and then no pictures she then told me she really liked the color pictures. We then had the discussion about imagining the pictures in your mind. Two days ago we started reading Chapter books since I'm going broke buying the short level 1-5 books that she reads in 3 minutes and then wants another one and another one.

Thought of one more thing. Not sure at what level your dd is reading but you might want to find books that are at high reading level but low interest level. I think scholastic web site has a search engine for that.

I was looking through my dd7's Flower Fairies Friends series books this morning. They have (b&w) pictures on every page. The contents are interesting for 2nd graders but the reading level is at grade 5-6 due to more difficult vocabulary. They are short and in large print so it's easy to read. If your dd likes fairies, I also recommend Fairy Chronicles series with all color pictures, not on every page, but the books are beautiful and colorful.

DD is very much into Fairy books. And I agree with a former poster that Magic Tree house has a fair amount of pictures in it. The Fairy series is very popular with DD5.

Ren

Thanks all. These suggestions are great. We found a book called Henrietta There's no one better yesterday and she loves that. Spent a good bit of time reading this a.m. And she loves fairies so that's a good option too.

My ds9 has always preferred books with illustrations,the more the merrier. He has been id'd at school as VS type, whatever that's worth, I think we *knew* that already, but they have been able to work with him to explain some of his strengths, and areas where things might not come as easily.
Lately just about the only books that appeal to him have to do with greek mythology, it is hard to find anything else to satisfy him.

This happened with my DD too from about age 7 - 8. Is changing now at 8.5. After being quite mystified about it all (her vocab and comp. are very advanced), she finally explained it to me by saying "those books don't look like they're meant for me". She wanted books that looked age appropriate (including the front cover), with reasonable font size, and plenty of white space on the page and PICTURES but they needed to be interesting. If I could find such a thing she would gulp it up with great pleasure even when the language was way past her age level.

Do you have access to a friendly children's bookshop or know of someone in a bookstore with a real interest in children's literature? Explain what you're after. The particular edition of the book is important as you can sometimes get the same book in an edition with closely packed font with no pcitures, or in a wide-spaced format with line illustrations.

We had success with
*Cartoons and graphic novels (Calvin & Hobbes were a life saver for a while and she still loves them),
* the Araminta Spook books by Angie Sage (which were in the perfect format)
* Nim at Sea, by Wendy Orr (it was a particlar edition but can't check as the school have borrowed it).
* DK non-fiction
* the Warrior series (she is cat obsessed and read them happily despite them not having pictures etc.)
* Roald Dahl! (also a life saver)
* the How to Tame a Dragon series (at 8 though)
* The firework maker's daugher by Philip Pullman (this was probably the first independant chapter book that she gobbled up with great excitement)
* Geronimo Stilton books (at 6.5 - 7)
* Captain Underpants (!!! Not my choice!)

My DD is not VS at all - in fact it's a relative weakness for her. I wonder if this is a developmental thing that some G&T kids go through where their reading skills are very sophisticated but their visual/aesthetic taste is age normal. Just speculating.

Also, keep reading aloud to her. DD would sometimes start reading independantly what we'd begun reading alound to her -despite it not meeting her criteria.

Best wishes

My ds7 much prefers books with pictures, too. When we go to the library, he heads straight to the picture book section and chooses the book by it's title and the picture on the front, regardless of the reading level. I've actually been surprised at how advanced some of the reading is in those books. Thanks to some suggestions here, I did get him to pick out a couple of graphic books, too - he read on straight away. Oneof his favorite books lately was the "My Father's dragon" trilogy - which does, I believe, have some pictures.

We ordered the first set of the Daisy Meadow Fairies books for DD4, we have read 3 in 3 days. We ordered the next set last night. We share read them since she says she gets tired reading because they are soooo long. To say the least they are a big hit. We have ordered the first 2 sets from Scholastic does anyone know of a site where you can get them cheaper since she is going through them pretty fast. We paid about $3.50 each last night.

Try the Fog Mound series by Susan Schade! http://www.amazon.com/Travels-Thelonious-Mound-Susan-Schade/dp/068987684X

They're part graphic novel, part novel novel and have great illustrations. DS5, who normally sticks to graphic novels, is cruising through the chapters.

I'm really late to taking notice of this thread but am thrilled to have discovered it!

My DD, almost 8, is so difficult to please with reading materials. I do suspect she is a visual spatial learner and this thread really ties together the kind of reader she is with the VS aspect of her learning style.

It is very hard for me to find things DD likes to read. When we go to the library, I pass her endless books...How about this one? She opens and closes it with a "Nope". I haven't been able to reconcile in my mind why she rejects books so quickly until now. I also have been puzzled as to how she even has the reading level she has given how little reading she has done. I see other identified GT kids who have been devouring every little bit of written print they have gotten their hands since age 4 or younger yet I have a child, also identified as GT, who is so different.

Things she has liked...

Magic Treehouse books, so much to the point where I felt the need to tell her she couldn't reread these anymore. Her teacher was also lightheartedly encouraging her to "leave Jack and Annie behind" because her reading level is so much higher than those books.

Non-fiction: I always thought this had something to do with laziness or not really liking to read. You know, she could read the 3 pages in the mammal book about lions and be done, unlike jumping into a chapter book that may require to read 15-20 pages.

My Father's Dragon trilogy: Fairly short books

The cartoon/funnies from the Sunday newspaper: Very short

***But within the past week, I have had a "lightbulb moment" and this thread supports it. IT IS THE PICTURES!

My lightbulb moment came with the Bone series, graphic novels. She asked me to buy her one at the school bookfair in May. I said "no" because it reminded me of video games(LOL, don't ask me why). She is very drawn into video games. OK, she is obsessed with video games and I have to watch her closely or she will play them way too much.

So, the Bone books came up again when she spotted one at the library this past week. After she had rejected everything else I tried to pass off on her, I let her check out the first three books because I'm desperate. She polished those off in two days! I could hardly pry her off the couch for meals.

Now I am on the hunt for more graphic novels. I really hope that after indulging her for a while with these, she will be turned on to other things.

The lightbulb just went on for me as well. My DS6 used to devour picture books as a toddler, but now that he is reading independently, I've found it challenging. I'm always trying to encourage him to pick up longer story type books at the library, but he tosses them aside and goes for the non fiction books with lots of pictures and large text. Even though he can easily read Magic Tree House, he usually stops mid page and asks me to read it to him. I never thought of the mental image and connection. Thanks for opening my eyes!

A manga could possibly help. Mangas are Japanese graphic novels, and since some of them may have deep plots, it would be easy to read. However, you should be warned: sometimes manga may contain questionable content. Screen them just in case♪

I think it is pretty normal for children to find big blocks of text with no pictures daunting/boring. My DS has only just, at 6, found the motivation to read his first novel without pictures (Harry Potter), but that is because he has been playing the LEGO video game and is already enthusiastic about Harry Potter in general.
The books which tipped him over from wanting to read picture books to graphic novels were the Tashi books by Anna Fienberg. He's also just been loaned some Geronimo Stilton books which he's been devouring.

I wonder if there is really anything wrong with a seven year old wanting a visual reference to what she is reading? Books with pictures are fun :), and I'm sure she'll come to reading books without them in time.

For us it was the magic school bus books - good content for DS4 with lots of graphics. As he advanced brought in the magic tree house books and he had a violent reaction to it, he said his books were bigger!!! But for him it was the topic, he just didn't like MSH, he loves the a to z mysteries which has some pictures But if you are looking for advanced science with pictures, try the brainwaves from DK, DS LOVES them, he really likes anything with intricate pictures especially exploded views of machines. Great one of those, transformed, how things are made. But I went overboard getting so much science that he started going to his old picture books, I took the hint and got him some storybooks that are simple comparatively but he still enjoys the stories. So we have a very wide range currently in our library basket!!