| This descriptive study examined the ways in which young children's meaning making was influenced by picture book illustrations. The children's picture tellings and story retellings were analyzed to determine the extent to which they used information from the illustrations, text, both illustrations and text, personal inventions, and inferences. The picture tellings and story retellings also were examined to determine the ways in which the illustrations influenced the use of story elements, questions, and personal connections.;The ten 5-year-old children in this study participated in retelling illustrated stories, retelling unillustrated stories, and in talking about pictures. Their responses were videotaped and audiotaped and later transcribed. The transcriptions were coded, and the data were analyzed to determine the ways in which each child's retellings were influenced by illustrations, the ways in which each child's retellings were similar to or different from the other children's, and the ways in which the collective retellings of each experience were similar to or different from the retellings of the other experiences.;The findings demonstrated that the children used picture book illustrations as assistance or scaffolds in their comprehension of story and in their story retellings. The illustrations prompted many questions and comments from them. The illustrations did influence the children's meaning making as reflected in picture readings and oral retellings. However, most of these young children demonstrated a need for help in knowing how to attend to, recognize, and understand picture book illustrations. |
