Picture Books in the High School Classroom

Picture books offer the high school student and their classroom opportunities for deep enrichment. They can be sophisticated materials that tease controversial topics, experiment with artistic expression, and tell marginalized stories. At the CRLS library we house some of the best of this format. Below are ten recommended titles with prompts for lesson ideas. There are many more to be discovered.

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James

#personalnarrative #poetry #ownvoices

A Different Pond by Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui

#marginalizedstories #mentortext

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

#exampleofexcellentwriting #conversationstarter

They Say Blue by Jillian Tamaki

#pointofview #imagery

Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

#fables #pointofview #criticalthinking

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

by Jerry Pinkney

#traditionalstorystructure #folktales #villains

Harlem by Walter Dean Myers and pictures by Christopher Myers

#history #thegreatmigration #significantplaces

Moon by Alison Oliver

#selfcare #zenbooks

Out of Wonder by Kwame Alexander

#poetry #tributes

A Hungry Lion or A Dwindling Assortment of Animals by Lucy Ruth Cummins

#brainbreak #humor