If you have ever looked through some literature books, you have probably noticed that, like most books, they cannot all be placed in one category. There are a variety of types and purposes for literature. Additionally, as with any genre, some literary books are of higher quality than others. For my classroom and for my teaching, I do not select just any book to use. I select all the books that I present to my students with the aim of helping them achieve one of my educational objectives. In evaluating literature, I look for a variety of elements. One element that I evaluate in literature is the visual aspect. It's a natural inclination for me because art has always had an important place in my life. Before teaching language arts, I was an art teacher. However, you don't have to be an art lover to evaluate the visual elements of a book. You need to be able to look at what the illustrations are doing to enhance or tell the story. Colors and illustrations can help shape students' visualizations of the story. When my students read chapters, they are left alone to do these visualizations and sometimes that is OK. However, there are times when I wish the illustrations would shape their thinking. There are many books where the story is partially or mainly told through pictures. One such book is Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. The full-color pictures in this book are so beautiful that the words of the story may not be the first thing you notice. I love the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words because what it really says is that in just one picture there are so many stories. For my students, I love the opportunity a picture has to let their minds make inferences about the story. They can read the words, but... middle of paper ......nature says: "That is part of the beauty of all literature." You discover that your desires are universal desires, that you are not alone and isolated from anyone. You belong. -F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald's quote says a lot about what literature can do to connect us to the human experience. I always tell my students that we write for change. This means that we also read for a change. Someone who wrote what we read wanted us to change. Change ourselves and our ideas. Knowing that we are connected to this world in which we live. Because reading literature can have such a powerful impact on human development, we must, as teachers, carefully select the books we use and find the purpose for which we read them. The students will do the rest. Let their minds run wild with their thoughts and literature will do more than change them, it will come to life within them..