As English becomes increasingly repositioned as a core subject at primary schools in many countries, there is an accompanying trend to deliver content from other areas of the curriculum such as science, maths, music and art through English too. This session focuses on the role that picture books can play in enriching children’s understanding of cross-curricular concepts at the same time as nourishing their imagination and sense of identity, and developing emotional intelligence and responsible citizenship. During the session, we will explore and discuss a range of practical examples which demonstrate ways in which picture books enhance children’s learning of content from other areas of the curriculum and lay the foundations of a life-long love of language and literature. It will be argued that for the most successful and effective long-term outcomes in terms of the development of basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS) and cognitive and academic language proficiency (CALP), it is vital to balance and integrate content-based teaching with a rich recourse to stories and picture books during the primary years.