A close relationship exists between children's capacity for learning in school (especially learning to read) and the amount and kind of reading aloud done by parents and teachers to children. Children's literature, especially the illustrations and the language contained in fine picture books, has the potential to provide six benefits that constitute major attitudes and skills essential to functioning in the beginning reading process. Such books achieve the following: (1) offer a store of experiences, (2) exemplify standard English, (3) display the possibilities of language, (4) impart an appreciation of one's cultural heritage and that of others, (5) help to develop imaginative and creative thinking powers, and (6) teach about literature. When young children have been read picture books and read these books on their own, they develop a broader vocabulary, experiential background, comprehension, mental imagery, motivation and interest to read, and understanding of literary schema. A good picture book is one in which the relationship between the text and the illustrations is a coherent, unified whole, and in which the pictures provide details that the reader might miss or not fully understand. An artistic, effective readable picture is one in which the viewer slowly discovers more details and experiences a greater depth of response to the story each time he or she examines the pictures. (NKA)