The purpose of this historical project was to compare 19th and 20th century books that originated approximately 165 years apart from collections at Miami University (Oxford, OH) in order to interpret how an early language and vocabulary may have emerged from literacy practices of reading printed books to form an early conception of health literacy. The study involved a content analysis to compare approximately 500 pages of four McGuffey Eclectic Reader Books (n = 4) and 5800 picture book bibliographies in the Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University for three purposes: (1) to conduct a preliminary exploration of the early value of visual-textual material in the historical teaching of reading and oral language development, (2) to discern how a written and oral language constituting vocabulary from the stories may have helped to develop functional literacy for the readers of the books -- and potentially a functional health literacy, and (3) to explore how a health literacy model with functional, interactive, and critical components might serve as a framework for studying historical reading material in health education.