Understanding History through the Visual Images in Historical Fiction

In the last ten years, historical fiction picturebooks have won numerous children’s literature awards and have assumed a prominent role in the literacy landscape of elementary and middle school classrooms. Whether read in read-alouds, study groups, as a focus of genre study, or as a supplement to the social studies curriculum, historical fiction picturebooks are a ubiquitous feature of elementary classrooms. What is problematic is the central focus in elementary reading education on teaching the strategies and skills necessary for understanding written text. When this is the case, the visual images and design features of the text are often overlooked, and readers’ construction of meaning with textual features (printed words) is privileged. This article highlights how purposeful instruction in visual and design systems of meaning of historical fiction picturebooks moved readers beyond literal elements of the texts and images, encouraged readers to construct meanings from a variety of perspectives, and created spaces for critical reading and inquiry.