The four questions
These four kinds of question work over any picture book. You don’t have to use all four on every page — just keep the talk going.
Fill-in Finch — Completion
When you reach a line your child knows well, read almost to the end, then pause and let them say the last word.
Try:
- “Read the next line almost to the end — then stop, and let your child say the last word.”
- “Find a line your child knows by heart. Pause just before its last word and wait.”
- “On a rhyme, read the first line, then pause before the word that rhymes.”
Open-ended Owl — Open-ended
Ask your child to tell you about the picture in their own words.
Try:
- “Tell me what’s happening on this page.”
- “What do you see here?”
- “What’s going on in this picture?”
Wh-Wren — Wh- question
Ask a what / where / who / why / how question about the page.
Try:
- “Where is the character going?”
- “Why do you think they did that?”
- “Who is this, and what are they doing?”
Distancing Deer — Distancing
Connect the page to your child’s own life.
Try:
- “Have you ever felt like that?”
- “When did we do something like this?”
- “Does this remind you of anything at home?”
For the grown-up
- PEER: Prompt your child, Evaluate their answer, Expand on it, then let them Repeat the expansion.
- Follow your child’s lead — if they want to talk about one page for a while, do.
- Recall: after the story, ask "what happened first? what happened next?"
- Read favourite books again and again — repetition is how the words stick.
- There are no wrong answers. Praise the trying, not the being-right.