15 Picture Book Month Bulletin Board Ideas for School Libraries

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3 hours ago

Looking for some Bulletin Board Ideas? Here are some ways to promote Picture Book Month.

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15 Creative Picture Book Month Bulletin Board Ideas for School Libraries

Library Lady | November Library Displays and Activities

November is Picture Book Month, a wonderful time to celebrate the stories and illustrations that have inspired generations of readers. From beloved classics to contemporary favorites, picture books have a special place in school libraries—and they’re not just for young children!

A well-designed bulletin board can do more than brighten your library walls. It can introduce students to new books, highlight favorite authors and illustrators, encourage student participation, and inspire readers to explore stories they might otherwise overlook.

Whether you’re looking for a quick display you can put together in an afternoon or an interactive bulletin board that keeps students engaged throughout November, these 15 Picture Book Month ideas offer something for every school library.

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You’ll also find suggestions for supplies and resources that can help bring each display to life.

Interactive Picture Book Month Bulletin Boards

1. Our Favorite Picture Books

Bulletin Board Heading: “Picture Books We Love!”

Invite students and teachers to share their favorite picture books. Create a colorful bulletin board featuring book-shaped cutouts where students can write the titles of their favorites.

As the month progresses, the display becomes a celebration of your school community’s reading preferences.

Display ideas: Add illustrations of favorite book characters, colorful book covers, or a large open-book centerpiece. Divide the board into sections for students, teachers, and library staff.

Interactive element: Provide blank book-shaped cutouts for students to complete during library visits.

Amazon resource ideas: Book-shaped bulletin board cutouts, colorful bulletin board borders, and multicolored cardstock.

2. Guess That Picture Book!

Bulletin Board Heading: “Can You Guess the Book?”

Turn your bulletin board into a month-long guessing game!

Display clues from familiar picture books without revealing the titles. Students can guess the books based on character descriptions, memorable objects, or short plot summaries.

For example:

“A little boy sails away to an island filled with unusual creatures.”
“A teddy bear goes searching for a missing button.”
“A group of crayons writes letters to complain about their jobs.”

Interactive element: Change the clues weekly and give students a place to submit answers. Reveal the correct titles at the end of each week.

Amazon resource ideas: library card pockets, mini envelopes, and dry-erase speech bubbles.

3. Picture Book Hall of Fame

Bulletin Board Heading: “Picture Book Hall of Fame”

Create a display celebrating outstanding picture books that have stood the test of time.

Feature classic titles such as Where the Wild Things Are, The Snowy Day, Corduroy, and Make Way for Ducklings alongside newer favorites.

Display ideas: Arrange book cover images inside colorful frames or award-ribbon shapes. Add the book’s publication year to show students how picture books have delighted readers across generations.

Interactive element: Let students vote for a favorite from a selection of titles and award it your library’s “Readers’ Choice” ribbon.

Amazon resource ideas: gold star cutouts, award ribbon decorations, and metallic bulletin board borders.

4. Picture Books Take Us Places

Bulletin Board Heading: “Oh, the Places Picture Books Take Us!”

Create a travel-themed bulletin board that highlights picture books set in different locations around the world.

Place a large world map in the center, surrounded by book covers. Connect each book to its setting using string or colorful arrows.

Interactive element: Invite students to select a book, locate its setting on the map, and add a small marker after reading.

Amazon resource ideas: world map posters, travel-themed decorations, and map pins.

5. Picture Book Character Parade

Bulletin Board Heading: “A Parade of Picture Book Friends”

Celebrate memorable picture book characters with a cheerful parade across your bulletin board.

Create a winding pathway or parade route and fill it with characters from popular picture books.

Display ideas: Include characters such as Corduroy, the Very Hungry Caterpillar, and the Pigeon from Mo Willems’s books. Use student-created drawings or authorized character images rather than assuming published artwork is free to reproduce.

Interactive element: Have students draw their favorite picture-book characters and add them to the parade.

Amazon resource ideas: craft paper rolls, construction paper, and classroom markers.

6. Vote for Your Favorite Illustrator

Bulletin Board Heading: “Every Picture Tells a Story!”

Showcase several picture book illustrators and examples of their distinctive artistic styles.

Feature illustrators such as Eric Carle, David Wiesner, Christian Robinson, Jerry Pinkney, and Sophie Blackall.

Display ideas: Divide the board into sections featuring collage, watercolor, pencil, and other illustration techniques. Include brief explanations of how each artist creates pictures.

Interactive element: Have students vote for their favorite illustration style and explain why.

Amazon resource ideas: Watercolor paper, colored pencils, and collage paper.

7. A Picture Book a Day

Bulletin Board Heading: “30 Days of Picture Book Magic!”

Create a calendar-style display featuring 30 picture books, one for each day of November.

Choose a mixture of classics, newer titles, nonfiction, and books that introduce students to different illustration styles.

Display ideas: Number 30 colorful paper squares or book-shaped pockets. Each pocket contains a book recommendation that students can reveal on its assigned day.

Interactive element: Students can suggest books for the calendar or participate in a schoolwide reading challenge. The Picture Book Month teacher’s guide also recommends tracking how many books students read during November.

Amazon resource ideas: Numbered classroom pockets, mini clothespins, and colorful cardstock.

Bulletin Boards That Celebrate Illustrations and Storytelling

8. A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Bulletin Board Heading: “What Story Do You See?”

Highlight the importance of illustrations by creating a display filled with intriguing images.

Choose wordless picture books such as Journey by Aaron Becker, Flotsam by David Wiesner, and The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney.

Display ideas: Feature the books alongside student-created illustrations. Add speech bubbles and thought bubbles to encourage storytelling.

Interactive element: Invite students to choose an illustration and write a short story describing what they think is happening.

Amazon resource ideas: Speech bubble cutouts, drawing paper, and colored pencils.

9. From Sketch to Story

Bulletin Board Heading: “Every Great Picture Book Starts with an Idea!”

Show students how picture books develop from an initial idea into a finished book.

Create sections labeled “Imagine,” “Sketch,” “Write,” “Illustrate,” and “Publish.”

Display ideas: Include examples of character sketches, simple storyboards, and completed picture book pages. You can create your own sample materials to avoid reproducing copyrighted illustrations.

Interactive element: Invite students to design a character or sketch a scene for an imaginary picture book.

Amazon resource ideas: Blank hardcover books, storyboard notebooks, and drawing pencils.

10. Picture Books Bring Stories to Life

Bulletin Board Heading: “Step Inside a Story!”

Transform your bulletin board into a giant open picture book.

Use large sheets of paper to create two oversized pages. Fill the pages with illustrations of imaginary landscapes, castles, forests, oceans, or outer space.

Display ideas: Add three-dimensional paper trees, clouds, stars, and characters to create a layered storybook scene.

Interactive element: Leave a space for students to contribute characters or objects that could become part of the story.

Amazon resource ideas: Bulletin board background paper, tissue paper, and foam adhesive squares.

11. Meet the Picture Book Creators

Bulletin Board Heading: “Behind Every Picture Book Is a Creator!”

Introduce students to the authors and illustrators who bring picture books to life.

Feature a different creator each week or display several favorites together.

Display ideas: Include short biographies, book titles, interesting facts, and descriptions of each creator’s work.

Interactive element: Ask students to submit questions they would like to ask a picture book author or illustrator.

Amazon resource ideas: Photo display frames, bulletin board letters, and decorative cardstock.

Picture Book Displays for Older Students

12. Picture Books Aren’t Just for Little Kids!

Bulletin Board Heading: “Big Ideas Come in Picture Books!”

Challenge the misconception that picture books are only for beginning readers.

Feature sophisticated titles such as The Arrival by Shaun Tan, The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, and The Wall in the Middle of the Book by Jon Agee.

Display ideas: Use a more mature design with simple lettering, bold colors, and thought-provoking questions.

Include prompts such as “Can pictures tell a story without words?” and “Can a short book explore a complicated subject?”

Interactive element: Invite older students to recommend picture books they believe deserve a place in middle school or high school classrooms.

Amazon resource ideas: Black bulletin board paper, metallic bulletin board letters, and index cards.

13. Picture Books Make Us Think

Bulletin Board Heading: “Small Books. Big Conversations.”

Highlight picture books that encourage discussions about important issues, personal growth, and understanding others.

Organize the display around themes such as courage, kindness, perseverance, belonging, and friendship.

Display ideas: Use colorful thought bubbles to label each theme, then arrange relevant picture books around them.

Interactive element: Invite students to complete the sentence, “This picture book made me think about…”

Amazon resource ideas: Thought bubble cutouts, sticky notes, and bulletin board borders.

Quick and Easy Picture Book Month Displays

14. Picture Books Through the Years

Bulletin Board Heading: “A Century of Picture Book Magic!”

Create a timeline featuring memorable picture books from different decades.

Begin with early classics and continue through recent award winners.

Display ideas: Arrange books chronologically across the board, adding publication dates and interesting facts. Include a mixture of titles students recognize and books they may not have encountered.

Interactive element: Invite students to identify the oldest picture book they’ve read or compare illustration styles from different decades.

Amazon resource ideas: Number and letter cutouts, timeline classroom decorations, and decorative paper.

15. We Love Picture Books!

Bulletin Board Heading: “Fall in Love with Picture Books!”

For librarians who need a quick November display, combine an autumn theme with a picture-book celebration.

Create a large tree with colorful fall leaves. Each leaf features the title of a favorite picture book.

Display ideas: Use brown kraft paper for the tree trunk and red, orange, yellow, and gold paper leaves. Add a few book covers or real books on a nearby shelf.

Interactive element: Let students add their favorite picture books to the tree throughout November.

Amazon resource ideas: Fall leaf cutouts, brown kraft paper, and autumn bulletin board borders.

Essential Supplies for Picture Book Month Bulletin Boards

If you create bulletin boards regularly, keeping a few versatile supplies on hand can make seasonal displays much easier to prepare.

Supply	How to use it
Book-themed borders	Frame picture book displays
Bulletin board letters	Create attention-grabbing headings
Multicolored cardstock	Make book shapes, leaves, and characters
Library pockets	Hold book recommendations and clues
Removable adhesive dots	Attach and change display elements
Laminating pouches	Preserve decorations for future years
Paper trimmer	Prepare straight, uniform display pieces

These are general Amazon search links that can be replaced with your own affiliate links. Librarians can also create many of these displays using paper, decorations, and craft supplies already available in their libraries.

Make Your Picture Book Month Bulletin Board Work Harder

A bulletin board doesn’t have to be elaborate to encourage reading. Sometimes the simplest displays generate the most interest, especially when students can participate.

To get more from your display, place a small collection of featured picture books nearby, change a few elements each week, or connect the bulletin board to a read-aloud or library lesson.

For additional inspiration, explore our National Book Month Bulletin Board Ideas and pair your display with a Picture Book Month book list.

Picture Book Month celebrates the unique combination of words and illustrations that makes picture books so memorable.

Whether you choose a colorful character parade, an interactive guessing game, or a simple display featuring student favorites, your bulletin board can help students discover new stories and revisit old favorites.

And remember, picture books aren’t just for the youngest readers. They can spark conversations, introduce new ideas, and inspire creativity at every grade level.

This November, use your school library bulletin board to remind students and teachers that great stories come in all sizes—and some of the best are filled with pictures!

Happy Picture Book Month!

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