Helen Oxenbury’s delightful drawings make a wonderful teaching tool in her 1985 book, I Hear, I See, I Touch. Whether you’re addressing a child’s sensory needs, teaching about the senses, or simply describing colors, actions, or even nouns to older children, it’s a very simple yet effective set of pictures to use that are also enjoyable to read.

The book isn’t a story in the traditional sense; there’s really no plot or anything like that. Instead, there are sets of cells displayed in chart form, depicting a young boy and his adventures using his senses. The first set of six cells portrays the boy hearing various things, from birds to dogs to rain and a watch. The author does a great job showing that hearing is useful both indoors and outdoors, and for both natural things like animals and babies as well as manmade things like watches and telephones.

She also shows what the boy does after he hears each object. For example, when the baby cries he sits next to her and plays with her hand, soothing her. When the phone rings, he answers it; when the rain comes, he uses an umbrella. Without using any words other than “bird” or “rain” or “dog,” the story aptly demonstrates how each sound is heard and how we use our ears to interpret and act on that sound. It’s also a perfect opportunity for little ones to describe what they see, point out details in the book, and even, when a little older, write about what was seen or how they would react if they were the boy.

The next set of cells covers the sense of sight. Again, the boy sees things in nature—a flower, a frog—as well as manmade items—a plane—and people—his friend. In the precedent set by the previous six cells, the boy continues to have his adventures seeing these different things and acting upon what he sees. There is less action in this case—he’s mostly watching things—yet they are still adorable and demonstrable illustrations of what a little boy would like and do when experiencing the world.

The last set of cells cover things the boy touches, which include a ball, a cat, water, a worm, bread, and a blanket. Each of these senses will bring up a feeling of remembrance as a reader recalls how he or she felt when holding or touching the same objects, creating a very effective covering of the sense of touch.