Selecting Quality Picture Books for Mathematics Instruction: What Do Preservice Teachers Look For?

A quality picture book can enhance instruction and build positive and meaningful connections that enable students to visualize and engage in mathematics. To learn more about how preservice teachers analyze and select quality picture books in their mathematics lessons, a study was conducted over two semesters during a required field experience component of an undergraduate teacher education program. The preservice teachers were required to use a picture book to explore a mathematical concept in three mathematics-focused lesson plans. Data was collected through preservice teachers’ lesson plan reflections, summative reflections over the experience of integrating picture books and mathematics, and focus group interviews. The qualitative data analysis revealed that in planning mathematics lessons to incorporate quality picture books, preservice teachers most often selected a book based on the topic to be taught or based on previous use by their university instructor. The quality of the selected picture books did not appear to be a critical criterion for selection. As a result, it is important for teacher educators to model ways of assessing and selecting quality picture books and provide opportunities for preservice teachers to incorporate these techniques.