VISUAL NOVELS.

I agree, and have argued from that platform before. I often rail against overemphasis on long cutscenes or huge blocks of text in video games, or even the assumption that video games should ever be focused more on story than gameplay--but Visual Novels are a different story. They're not games, even though they use similar User Interfaces and have interactive elements. I often make the argument that people who do take such an interest in telling stories over making games should be making visual novels instead.

That said, I don't think it's like a picture book either. Visual Novels are their own medium, and can utilize things picture books can't, like animation, music, and voice acting--all of which make a pretty big difference.

If you haven't yet, check out Ever 17 ~Out of Infinity~. It can be kinda inane at times, but its without a doubt my #1 favorite visual novel. It's about a group of kids who get trapped in a deep underwater marine park that's set to collapse in on itself in the next few days.

Tsukihime is another one of my fav's, though given its notoriety, I'm sure you've already seen it. I'm personally looking forward to reading Fate Stay Night once its completely translated, and have been quite dismayed to learn spoilers about it just from surfing the internet.

Also, its not a visual novel, but anyone who's a Haruhi fan would do very well to read the translated novels. There's a lot of things in the novels that are really glazed over or left un-explained in the anime.