Power Of Pictures

Photograph Books Play Key Role In Baby’s Development
By Jessica Wasmund
12/30/2007

While a picture’s worth one thousand words, for a baby, it can result in his first words.

New studies on babies’ minds show that books which use photographs instead of illustrations can help young children learn to associate words quicker.

Erika O’Connor, author of the ‘‘My ABC Photo Book,’’ was sorting photos in her office one day when her daughter began pointing out objects she recognized in the pictures.

‘‘My two-year-old was picking up the pictures and pointing out what was in the pictures to me... and it occurred to me she was making the association because they were real-life pictures,’’ Ms. O’Connor said.

While looking for some unique gift ideas, Ms. O’Connor came across a study online by Dr. Judy DeLoache entitled ‘‘Get the Picture? The Effects of Iconicity on Toddlers’ Reenactment From Picture Books.’’

The study presented some material to back up her motherly instincts on what she was seeing with her own children.

‘‘I’ve spent many years studying infants and varying children’s understanding of different kinds of symbolic objects,’’ said Dr. DeLoache, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia.

‘‘The single-most common one is pictures, so my research on children and pictures goes back to the late ’80s and early ’90s and has taken various forms.’’

Ms. O’Connor started searching the market for toddlers books that used real photographs and discovered there were very few available.

She then came up the idea of personalizing the photos, to make the book more interesting to the children.

‘‘I think that the idea of having a book of meaningful people and things to the child is a very nice idea,’’ Dr. DeLoache said. ‘‘I actually made one for my son, and he’s now 29, so I’m sure it was one of the earliest versions. I included pictures of his parents, his grandparents, favorite toys and he found it very interesting. So it depends what you want to get out of it — a given child might or might not relate it to people they stand for.’’

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