This collection of picture books has one thing in common: they are great books to start out with when you are teaching your little ones how to retell a narrative (aka storyline or plot). As an SLP, one of my favorite tools for teaching how to retell narratives is Story Grammar Marker.
It's important for kids to be able to retell stories because if they are able to do so, it shows that they are comprehending and remembering them. In their school years, children take in new information and learn about the world through stories (and later, expository texts like science books). The ability to retell or summarize is crucial and is something that children will use throughout their lives. It's a skill that they will continue to build upon as they encounter more complex texts. Practicing retelling stories also supports writing skills—when children internalize the structure of stories, it helps them organize events in a logical sequence when they take on writing tasks. Also, while retelling stories, other areas are worked on such as vocabulary acquisition, past tense verbs and so much more. It’s a worthwhile task to easily blend in with story time.