The Magic of Wordless Picture Books

Megan Daley on how and why to share them and 40+ great options to get you started

I began my teaching career as an early childhood teacher and discovered the power of wordless picture books very early on. The freedom to interpret and narrate these visual stories sparked endless creativity and engagement among my Year Two students, and my collection of wordless picture books began in earnest.

Over many years in education and libraries, I’ve been fortunate to be able to delve deeper into the realm of visual literacy and the illustrative work. Workshops and articles by such artists as Matt Ottley, Tony Flowers, Gihun Lee and others have provided me with valuable insight, inspiration and education about exploring wordless picture books, both for myself and for use with students from early years into the senior years.

I will admit, however, that, without a bit of background on wordless picture books, it can be quite disconcerting to open a book without words!

With the complete absence of words, we might wonder what the book wants to tell us, we may worry that we will misinterpret the intent of the story and, as a reader, we need to work harder to decipher the story and pay close attention to ‘reading the images’.

I’m going to share what I see as the benefits of wordless picture books and my tips on using them in the home, library or classroom setting.

Use these ideas to explore wordless picture books yourself and then test them out with young people in your life – with just a little scaffolding, you’ll be able to use these books to spark endless creative and educational endeavours.