Wordless Books Worth Reading!

Wordless books can be a bit of a challenge for those of us who are used to the way books are “supposed to work.” You pick up a book, read the words, and look at the pictures, right? But what in the heck do you do with a book that has no words? Do you just look at the pictures? Do you make up a story? Do you just talk about the illustrations? My answer is: all of the above! The great thing about wordless books is that you can have a new story every time! Here are some of my favorite wordless – or nearly wordless - books along with some of the favorite books of my Twitter Friends!

• The Snowman by Raymond Briggs (submitted by dianekauppi)


• Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins


• Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie de Paola (submitted by linkstoliteracy)


• The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg (submitted by peekabooplay)


• Un-Brella by Scott E. Franson (submitted by BabetteR)


• Wave by Suzy Lee (submitted by literacydocent)


• Zoom by Istvan Banyai (submitted by PaulWHankins)


• Re-Zoom by Istvan Banyai (submitted by PaulWHankins)


• Hug by Jez Alborough


• Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathman (submitted by MCLibrarian)


• Peter Spier's Rain (submitted by MCLibrarian)


• Yellow Umbrella by Dong Il Sheen (submitted MCLibrarian)


• Changes, Changes by Pat Hutchins


• Tuesday by David Wiesner

• Deep in the Forest by Brinton Turkle (submitted by literacydocent)

• Flotsam by David Wiesner (submitted by mom2preteens)


• Time Flies by Eric Rohmann
  
  

More Ideas for Using Wordless Books

• Use wordless books to introduce or practice the concept of sequencing. Using words like first, second, and third, children will learn to put the elements of the story in order!



• Wordless books are great for ESL students who are learning to read. They can tell a story without the threat of “reading” the words incorrectly.


• Wordless books are also great for a variety of age groups. Very young children can look at the illustrations, preschoolers can interpret the illustrations and make up their own stories, while older children can write the text for each page.

More wordless picture books:

• http://nancykeane.com/rl/317.htm
• http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/children/wordless.html