Big Ideas in Small Books: Using Picture Books to Teach HaSS in the Primary Classroom

Image by: What to Read to Kids 2020

In today’s diverse and dynamic classrooms, young learners are increasingly encountering big questions: 

What is fair? Why do some people get treated differently? What does it mean to belong? 

While these ideas can feel abstract or complex, picture books offer a powerful and age-appropriate entry point. Through compelling narratives and rich illustrations, picture books help students explore concepts like identity, inclusion, cultural diversity, and fairness in a way that is both engaging and accessible.

Far from being just bedtime stories, picture books can serve as tools for critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and civic engagement, all core aims of the Australian HASS curriculum. By carefully selecting books that reflect a range of lived experiences and perspectives, teachers can foster classroom conversations that support students' development as compassionate, reflective, and socially aware citizens.

Why Picture Books Matter in the HASS Classroom

Picture books function as cultural artefacts that reflect, challenge, and reshape our understandings of the world. They invite young readers to consider multiple viewpoints and to reflect on how characters navigate ethical and social dilemmas. In the Humanities and Social Sciences learning area, which emphasises inquiry, perspective-taking, and active citizenship, this makes picture books particularly
valuable.

Image By Boyd Christian School 2014             

Research supports the use of narrative texts in building empathy and intercultural understanding. As Simpson (2020) argues, literature can become a space where students encounter both familiar and unfamiliar worlds, helping them to critically examine their own beliefs while developing an appreciation for others’ experiences. For younger students, where abstract concepts can be difficult to grasp, stories told through characters and pictures provide a more concrete and emotionally resonant path to understanding.

Three Picture Books that Spark Big Conversations

Here are three powerful picture books that can be used to initiate rich, inquiry-based discussions about social justice with primary students:

1. The Island by Armin Greder

This stark and haunting picture book explores themes of exclusion, fear, and the treatment of outsiders. The narrative, paired with bold charcoal illustrations, presents a community that rejects a castaway — raising ethical questions about belonging and difference.

Classroom prompt: Why do people fear what they don’t understand? Whose voice is not being heard in this story?

2. Sorry Day by Coral Vass and Dub Leffler

Told through a dual narrative structure, this book connects the 2008 Apology to the Stolen Generations with a fictional child’s experience of removal. It opens the door to conversations about truth-telling, reconciliation, and historical justice.

Classroom prompt: What does ‘saying sorry’ mean in this context? How can we learn from the past to do better in the future?

3. My Two Blankets by Irena Kobald and Freya Blackwood

This gentle story follows a young refugee as she adjusts to a new culture, language, and identity. Through metaphor and tender illustrations, the book explores themes of migration, inclusion, and friendship.

Classroom prompt: What helps someone feel at home in a new place? How can we help others feel welcome in our classroom?

Practical Strategies for the Classroom

To make the most of these texts, teachers can embed them within inquiry-based learning units and use them as springboards for meaningful activities. Here are a few strategies to support implementation:

• Use Visible Thinking routines: Approaches like See, Think, Wonder or Connect, Extend, Challenge can help students unpack both textual and visual elements in a structured way.

• Encourage discussion through drama: Role-play or Readers Theatre allows students to step into the shoes of characters and reflect on their choices and emotions.

• Link to inquiry questions: Align books with broad guiding questions such as “What makes a community fair?” or “How can we show respect for difference?”

• Prioritise diverse perspectives: Regularly include stories that represent a range of cultural, linguistic, and social experiences to build an inclusive classroom culture.

Conclusion

Using picture books in the HASS classroom is not about simplifying complex issues, it’s about making them visible and meaningful to young learners. Through carefully chosen stories, teachers can create spaces where students explore their values, question injustices, and imagine more inclusive futures. As students reflect on the experiences of fictional characters, they begin to develop the empathy, curiosity, and critical thinking skills needed to participate thoughtfully in the world around them.

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References

Simpson, A. (2020). PETAA Paper 217: Literature circles and reading for meaning. Primary English Teaching Association Australia.