What Should Parents Discuss While Reading Picture Books with Kids?

Parents should discuss what the child observes, what the characters are feeling, and what might happen next. Short, open-ended questions transform a picture book for kids into a conversation. This guide gives you the topics, sample questions and age-wise prompts to use at your next story time.

Why Talking Is Important While Story Time?

A picture book is more than a story. It’s an opportunity to talk to your child page by page. When you speak to your child:

• Learns new words, hears how sentences work

• Listens and replies

• Connects words and pictures, the first step to reading

• Feels heard, which creates interest in books

Researchers call this type of reading “dialogic reading.” The adult asks questions, adds details, and lets the child talk. Research has linked it to more advanced early language skills.

What to Talk When Reading a Book with Pictures and Words?

A book with pictures and words offers you two things to talk about: what the child sees and what the text says. Start with the picture and then go to the words.

First Talk About Pictures

For a moment, cover the text and ask, “What do you see?” Follow your child's lead.

• Draw attention to small details: colours, shapes and things in the background

• Say, What is the dog doing here?

• Tell me what you see, too: There’s a red kite near the tree.

This is observation built. Kids see a lot of things that grownups don’t.

Link Words to Pictures

Children learn that printed words have meaning. Help them connect the dots.

• Read a word and ask your child to identify the matching picture

• Read it and slide your finger under the word.

• Ask, “Which word do you think says apple?”

You’re not here to instruct reading. You show that pictures and words go together

Talk About Feelings

With pictures, you can easily talk about emotions through faces and body language. 

• How does he feel? How do you know? 

• Why do you think she is crying?

• Did you ever feel like that?

Naming feelings helps kids recognise their own.

Predict What Happens Next

Stop before you turn the page. Say, “What will happen now?”

There is no wrong guess. Guessing means your child is thinking about the story. Turn the page and ask, “Did you guess right?”

Connecting Story to Real Life

Relate the book to your child’s day. 

• Have you seen a pond like this in the park? 

• Who cooks in our house, like the grandma in this story?

• What will you do in such a situation?

These links will help your child remember the story and the new words in it.

What to Talk with Kids Animal Pictures?

Animal pictures for kids are a good way to start a chat. Most kids love animals, and animals provide lots of easy topics.

Names, Sounds, and Dwellings

• Tell your child what the animal is and add one fact: “This is a camel. It’s native to the desert.

• Make the animal sound together

• Describe its habitat, diet, and locomotion

This is the first time the city has a black mayor. One new fact a page is enough.

Compare & Count

• Big and small: “Is the mouse bigger than the elephant?

• Counting: How many legs does the spider have?

• Sort: Which animals are on a farm? Which live in the woods?

Early maths and thinking skills versus builds.

Sample Questions

1. Which pet would you like to have and why?

2. What does this animal sound like?

3. The fastest animal is the cheetah. Which is the slowest?

4. What will you feed this creature?

Birds Pictures for Kids: What Can You Discuss 

Birds pictures for kids bring colour, flight and sound. Children can also find birds around their home, which makes the book very realistic.

Sounds, Wings & Colours

• Look at feathers, beaks, wings, nests

• Ask, “What bird has the shiniest feathers?”

• Copy the bird call together. Try the crow's caw or the sparrow's chirp

Where Birds Live & What They Eat

• Many birds make their nests in trees. Some use holes, some ledges.

• Different beaks for different foods: seeds, insects or fish

• Some birds do not fly. Penguins swim. Ostriches run.

Give one fact per page and allow your child to ask for more.

Sample Questions

• Can you spot a bird you saw outside today? 

• What is the colour of the bird's wing?

• Does this bird sleep at night?

• How is this bird different from the one on the last page?

Latest Blog: How Can Colouring Activities Help Kids Recognise Patterns?

Questions to Ask Depending on Age?

Adapt your questions to your child's age. Younger children respond well to simple questions. Older kids can take on why and what if.

• Ages 2-3: “What’s that?” Name and point to things. Repeat words often.

• Ages 3-4: “What is going on?” Tell me about feelings and simple things that happen.

• Ages 4-6: “Why did that happen?” Ask for predictions, causes and effects and opinions.

All children develop at different rates. If a question is too difficult, simplify it. If it seems too easy, move up.

How to Choose the Right Picture Book for Kids

Look for these in children’s picture books:

• Large & clear pictures showing the action

• Simple words, some often repeated

• Themes your child likes, such as animals, birds or everyday life

• Pages that are detailed enough to talk about but not detailed enough to confuse

This kind of shared reading works well with illustrated pages with words in Lil Legends picture books.

Conclusion

Talking about the pictures, feelings and ideas makes a picture book richer for your child. No special skills are required. Start with one open question per page, listen, add a small fact. See Lil Legends picture books for more stories to share.