In emergent reading, which description fits pretending to read a familiar book using pictures as cues?

• A. Reads the text aloud from memory.
• B. Writes a summary.
• C. Pretends to read, using the pictures as cues to describe each page.
• D. Skips pages and narrates the end.

Answer: (C)

In emergent reading, children build meaning from a book by using the pictures and their own language to tell the story, rather than decoding printed words just yet. The description of pretending to read with pictures as cues to describe each page fits this pattern perfectly: the child relies on the illustrations to guide what happened on each page and narrates the story accordingly. This shows early comprehension and narrative skills, a hallmark of emergent literacy.

Using pictures to describe page by page demonstrates how kids connect visuals to meaning, predict what might happen, and recall familiar books from memory, all without needing to read the actual text. The other options don’t fit because they involve reading from memory of exact words, writing a summary, or skipping parts of the book and narrating only the ending, none of which centers on using pictures to cue the story.