Visualizing is a fun skill for students to practice. These 10 vivid visualizing books will have your students unleashing their creativity as they make their own mental images!
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Teaching Visualizing
When sharing visualizing books with your students, you may want to select excerpts from the texts that include vivid descriptions. Be sure to have students listen to the story without showing them the illustrations so that they can sketch their own mental images. Students can compare what they visualized to what other students and the illustrator drew. These are some of the many activities for visualizing in reading you can try!
Visualizing Books
Milo Imagines the World
When riding on the subway, Milo needs something to do to help pass the time. So he imagines the lives of the passengers but realizes we really don’t know anything about someone just by looking at them. Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Pena is sure to get students’ imaginations going!
The Snowy Day
Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day is a classic mentor text that works well for any skill! Students can visualize the sights and sounds of the first snowfall of winter. They may even want to try adding their own descriptions about snow into a class book.
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce shares the magic of books with students. Students can even watch the Short Film as another way to compare their mental images and watch the story unfold.
The Gruffalo
A clever mouse outsmarts hungry animals in the forest by inventing the Gruffalo. He gives terrifying descriptions of the imaginary creature that students will enjoy visualizing! But be sure to hide the book cover while reading The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson.
Where the Wild Things Are
After getting into some mischief, Max is sent to bed; however, he ends up in a faraway world full of the Wild Things. Students will have fun making mental images based on the vivid descriptions in Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
Stuck
Floyd’s kite is stuck in a tree and he is determined to get it out. What he doesn’t plan on is the absolute mess he ends up making when more things keep getting stuck. Stuck by Olivia Jeffers will have students laughing at their mental images.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett is sure to get students’ imaginations going. In the town of Chewandswallow, the weather comes three times a day – but as FOOD! This book is fun to visualize and students may be inspired to write their own stories. You’ll also want to share the sequel book Pickles to Pittsburgh.
The Paperboy
The Paperboy by Dav Pilkey vividly describes the job of a paperboy. He begins his job early in the morning before the rest of the world wakes up. Students can compare/contrast their visualizations from the beginning of the book to the end.
Bedhead
Oliver is having a bad hair day, but to make it even worse, today is class picture day! Bedhead by Margie Palatini gives hilarious descriptions of his bad hair day that are perfect for students to create mental images. (Be sure to hide the cover while reading!)
Owl Moon
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen is another classic mentor text that works well for any skill, but it works exceptionally well for visualizing. Through vivid descriptions, readers can visualize the sights and sounds of the winter woods at night.
Visualizing Poems
In addition to visualizing books, poems work exceptionally well for visualizing with their use of descriptive and sensory words. Here are some poetry resources you can use:
- Poetry4Kids
- Common Core Poetry Text Exemplars
- ReadWorks (sign up for a free account)
- Shel Silverstein Poetry Books
- Jack Prelutsky Poetry Books
For a master list of visualizing books and mentor texts for other comprehension skills, complete the form below. This FREE resource will make your lesson planning easier!
What other visualizing books do you love using? Share in the comments!
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