In tactile illustrated books, the reader has to explore the tactile picture in order to interpret its meaning and to associate it with the text content. As is the case with sighted children, tactile illustrations could be beneficial for language and literacy development of visually impaired children (that is, those with blindness or low vision), and should help them in understanding and remembering the story (Stratton & Wright, 1991). However, the identification of tactile illustrations is not simple, and it varies according to the characteristics of the tactile pictures, the level of visual experience of the participants. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the presence or absence of illustration as well as the effect of the type of illustration on the processing of information in a short story. In this exploratory study, three 6-year-old children with different levels of visual impairment participated in a joint book-reading task. During the task, the children needed to listen to the story and to explore the illustration. How the child interacted with the adult and with the book during reading, and what he was able to recall about the story, were examined as clues to the process of understanding the story.