Interactive Children’s Picture Books
Interactive picture books call for participation and interaction from the reader. Thanks to clever situations and charming characters, books in this category are some of my favourite storytime selections.
Richard Byrne’s This book ate my dog! exemplifies the charm of these kinds of publications. Byrne builds a mystery around the gutter of the book itself (a physical feature) that gobbles up the story’s characters.
The current reigning queen of interactive picture books, Jan Thomas, has a number of playful titles under her belt including: Is everyone ready for fun and can you make a scary face?
You can even have interaction without any pictures at all, like in B.J. Novak’s (of The Office sitcom fame) The Book with No Pictures.
French author/illustrator Herve Tullet burst onto the English scene with the publication of Press Here in 2011, a title which a Horn Book review declares: "gives the iPad a licking." He has since gone on to capitalize on the success of this title with a number of similar interactive books including: Mix it up! and Press Here 3.
Emily Gravett is a British author whose interactive picture books are so playful that she goes so far as to change her pen name for some! In Wolves, the story of a rabbit who checks out a book about wolves and get more than she bargained for, the author appears as Emily Grrrabbit on the title page. In Spells, a mix-and-match story about a frog, she goes by Emily Gribbitt.
With dozens of lift-the-flap, scanimation titles and touch-and-feel books available at your local library, these participation stories are in good company. Discover the simple joy that sharing the magic of books can bring, and be sure to check out some of these titles, and loads more interactive picture books at Toronto Public Library.
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4 thoughts on “Interactive Children’s Picture Books”
Great post Jessica! These are some of my favourites as well.
What I really like is that a lot of these can be used to interact with a big group or even one-on-one where the reader can form their own special relationship with the book!
(And you should check out B.J. Novak reading “The Book With No Pictures” to a group of children on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cREyQJO9EPs). It is simply delightful and very, very funny!)
I agree – reading these kinds of books in a group vs. one-on-one is quite different, but both are equally as satisfying.
Thanks for sharing this video, it’s a real gem!
These are some of my kids’ favourite books. The more they can get into it, the more it comes alive for them…especially my youngest who doesn’t read yet. The Book With No Pictures has spawned so many funny moments in our family. It is definitely among the top books read of all time in our family.
Thanks for sharing Nancy, I’m so glad to know that your family has enjoyed these titles.