New research highlights the growing importance of visual literacy in how children understand stories, develop empathy and make sense of the world around them.
What happens when a child looks at a picture in a book? For a long time, educational research paid considerably more attention to the words children read than to the images they interpret. But a growing body of research suggests that children are far more sophisticated visual readers than adults have traditionally assumed.
A 2024 research review by Jennifer Farrar, Evelyn Arizpe and Rachel Lees from the University of Glasgow examines two decades of research into visual literacy, children’s reading and children’s literature. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Education 3–13, the article traces an important shift in the way researchers understand the role of images in children’s learning.
One of its central conclusions is that illustrations are not simply decorative additions to a story. Children actively interpret images, notice visual details, make connections and use pictures to construct meaning. Research reviewed by the authors shows that even young children can engage with complex visual features such as symbolism, irony, relationships between characters and ethical or environmental questions.
However, the ability to interpret images should not be taken for granted. The authors point out that growing up surrounded by screens and visual media does not automatically make children visually literate or critical readers of images. Like reading written language, understanding visual language requires opportunities to observe, discuss, question and develop a vocabulary for what we see.
The review identifies several major developments in the field. Early research focused primarily on the aesthetic experience of images and children’s ability to appreciate artistic techniques. Later studies increasingly explored the role of visual texts in developing intercultural understanding and empathy. More recent research has also raised questions about representation, authenticity and power: Whose stories are being told? Who is visible in children’s books? And how can images shape the way young readers understand people and the world?
Particularly significant is research involving children from marginalised communities, including migrant and displaced children. Studies of wordless picturebooks have shown how images can create opportunities for shared meaning-making across linguistic barriers. In these contexts, visual narratives can support communication, identity and a sense of belonging.
The review also challenges adults to reconsider their own role. Teachers, parents and other mediators can enrich children’s encounters with visual texts—but they can also unintentionally limit interpretation when they expect children to arrive at a single “correct” meaning. The researchers argue for more open and inclusive spaces where children can respond to images in different ways, through conversation, drawing, storytelling and other creative forms.
At a time when children are surrounded by increasingly complex visual environments—from picturebooks and comics to films, games and digital media—the ability to critically interpret images is becoming an essential part of literacy.
The question, then, may no longer be whether images belong alongside reading and learning. The research suggests something more fundamental: images are themselves a way of thinking and learning.
* Source: Jennifer Farrar, Evelyn Arizpe & Rachel Lees, Thinking and Learning through Images: A Review of Research Related to Visual Literacy, Children’s Reading and Children’s Literature, Education 3–13, Vol. 52, No. 7, 2024, pp. 993–1005. DOI: 10.1080/03004279.2024.2357892.
