Quick note
These picks are gentle, fun, and meant to spark both drawing and storytelling. Below each book I give a short reason it fits and a tiny activity idea you can try together.
Picture books that inspire making art and stories
- The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds — Encourages a child who thinks they "can't" draw. Activity: Make your own dot art page and write one sentence about each dot's story.
- Ish by Peter H. Reynolds — A message about making art without worrying about being perfect. Activity: Draw one thing "ish" (e.g., house-ish) every day for a week and keep them in a folder.
- Sky Color by Peter H. Reynolds — Great for learning about color and experimenting. Activity: Paint three different skies (sunrise, night, storm).
- Journey by Aaron Becker — A wordless picture-book adventure perfect for inventing stories. Activity: After reading, have her draw a new scene that continues the story and tell what happens next.
- Press Here by Hervé Tullet — An interactive book that gets kids thinking about cause-and-effect and imagination. Activity: Make your own "press-here" mini-book with stickers or stamps.
- The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg — Strange single illustrations that are excellent story prompts. Activity: Pick one picture and write a short story or make a comic about what might be happening.
- Not a Box by Antoinette Portis — A simple reminder that imagination can turn anything into a prop. Activity: Turn a shoebox into three different story props and act out each scene.
How-to-draw and art-idea books (hands-on)
- Ed Emberley Drawing Books (various titles) — Step-by-step drawing guides that are easy and empowering. Activity: Follow a page and then encourage creating an original character using the same shapes.
- Usborne How to Draw (Animals or Things to Draw) — Clear kid-friendly step lists. Activity: Create a mini-gallery at home of pieces labeled with short one-sentence captions.
- Doodle Adventures by Mike Lowery — Combines short adventure stories with places for the reader to draw and change the tale. Activity: Complete the drawing prompts and read your changed story aloud.
- The Usborne Complete Book of Art Ideas — Lots of projects with different materials. Activity: Pick one project a week and make a scrapbook of finished projects and a sentence about the story each one suggests.
Graphic novels and early chapter books with creativity and humor
- Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson — Funny, imaginative, and great for kids who like characters and silly stories. Activity: Draw a comic strip starring Phoebe and a new magical friend she invents.
- Hilo series by Judd Winick — Action, humor, and bright art that often inspires kids to create their own comic pages. Activity: Write a short four-panel comic inspired by Hilo.
- Smile by Raina Telgemeier — A graphic memoir many kids enjoy; it also shows sequential art and storytelling. Activity: Have her draw a short memoir page about something funny or important that happened to her.
Books that give story prompts and encourage writing
- 642 Things to Write About: Young Writer's Edition — Tons of short, kid-friendly prompts to get stories started. Activity: Pick one prompt and write or draw a one-page story together.
- Rip the Page! by Keri Smith — A playful, interactive book that encourages creating in unusual ways. Activity: Do one prompt a day and display the results.
Art and artist books for curious kids
- Katie and the Starry Night / Katie and the Mona Lisa / Katie and the Impressionists by James Mayhew — Katie visits famous paintings and meets the artists. Activity: Pick a painting from one book and try to recreate it with crayons or collage, then tell Katie's next adventure.
- The Curious Garden by Peter Brown — Shows the power of one child's imaginative action; good for art and story inspiration. Activity: Create a tiny garden scene on paper and write a short caption about who tends it.
How to use these books — 6 simple activities to grow art + storytelling
- Draw-Along: Read a picture book, then redraw one page in your own style. Add a sentence that changes the story.
- Story Prompts from Pictures: Use a Harris Burdick or Journey image and write 3 different story beginnings (silly, scary, happy).
- Make a Mini-Book: Fold 4–8 pages of paper, staple, and have her illustrate and write a short story to give as a gift.
- Comic Panels: Pick a scene from a graphic novel and redraw it as 3 panels to practice sequencing.
- Art Journal: Keep a small sketchbook. Every day draw one quick thing and add one sentence about where it came from in a story world you both invent.
- Mix Media Challenge: Choose one book project and recreate it using a different material (e.g., paint → collage → chalk). Discuss how the mood changes.
Final tips
- Let her make messy or "not perfect" work — that freedom grows creativity.
- Combine reading and doing: short reading sessions followed by a 10–20 minute art activity work very well for this age.
- Rotate types of books (picture book, how-to-draw, graphic, writing prompts) so she sees many ways to make and tell stories.
If you want, tell me whether she prefers drawing people, animals, fantasy, or comics and I can make a shorter list focused just on that.