Do you and your children know the treasures that can be found in wordsless picture books?
Wordless books are exactly what the term implies—books that tell a story, but without printed story text.
Wordless books, on the other hand, rely heavily on the illustrations to draw their readers into the tales that they tell. Wordless books are illustrated by artists who communicate emotion, humor, and details without ever writing a word.
Because there are no words to “read,” wordless books can be enjoyed independently by children of all ages—whether they are readers or not. When given the opportunity, a child will often discover a story in the book’s illustrations that is far more imaginative than anything that you—or even the author himself—could have conceived. Although the author of a book without words may have his own story, your child can read it as a blank page.
Reading Wordless BooksPreschoolers
WordlessPicture books are more than just books with beautiful pictures. These wonderful books can benefit your preschooler’s emerging literacy in three important ways.
- WordlessBooks help children develop their vocabulary and language skills. As you talk to your children about the pictures in the books, they’ll learn to label objects in the pictures, assign appropriate sounds and gestures to objects, and invent a simple story plot to accompany the illustrations.
- WordlessBooks can help you develop your creativity and storytelling skills. WordlessPicture books are a great way to help pre-readers get started. listeningTell a story Tell meA story is a story. As they grow older, children begin to understand the sequence of events and learn how to tell stories. These books promote imagination and creativity.
- Wordless books encourage book usage skills. WordlessPicture books are a great way to teach children how to handle books. The children learn how to treat books with respect and appreciation. They also acquire essential book-reading skills such as reading from cover to cover, top to bottom, left to right, left to right, turning pages, and reading from one page to the next.
Reading Wordless BooksFor older children
But wordless picture books aren’t just for preschoolers! These multipurpose books can be very useful and enjoyable for older children. Because of their depth and complexity, wordless books can stimulate an older child’s thinking and imagination in ways that a chapter book may not.
- WordlessPicture books are known for their amazing illustrations. Picture books that rely only on illustrations to tell the story are illustrated in stunning detail. For older children, the artwork can provide hours of entertainment.
- Wordless books make great “story starters.” Older children can use a wordless book as a springboard for a creative writing assignment. This genre is a great story starter for struggling writers because the illustrations tell a story without using words. Wordless books can be used as story starters to help with basic writing skills such as sentence structure, grammar, mechanics, and vocabulary. Beyond the basics, this story starter activity promotes story-writing skills including plot development, character development, story structure.
- Wordless books are often “mind-benders.” Many wordless books tell fantastic stories that take the mind to places it doesn’t expect to go. These books stimulate the imagination and require more mature “readers” to think deeply about the story the author is telling.
- WordlessThe books bring history alive. WordlessThe stories are told in books in a very poignant way. Rich illustrations can evoke an emotion that is not possible if the story was told only with words. A child older than his parents may discover that he is enjoying history even though he doesn’t know it.
I’ve chosen a few of my favorite wordless picture books to get you started, but don’t stop there. There are many to choose from. Click on any book cover to view my reviews.
My Favorite Wordless Picture BooksFor Little Kids:
My Favorite Wordless Books for Big Kids:
FREE Wordless Picture BooksLibrary List
