Wordless Picture Books

Wordless picture books create a story that is different for every reader and can vary greatly with every retelling. With illustrations to guide the story and depict the characters, setting, plot, and action, the reader will use their imagination to create the words and dialog that become the pieces of the story. Several illustrators create this type of story and they are an excellent source to use with all students, especially English Language Learners. This type of story allows the student to expand their oral language development as they make connections between vocabulary learned and images in the books. Two good examples of these stories to use include, but are not limited to:

Peter Sis, in SHIPS AHOY, shows a boy playing on the couch in his living room and how his imagination transforms the couch into a ship, submarine, or even a raft surrounded by a sleeping water monster (AKA the vacuum). These simple pencil sketches created mainly in blue and black allow the reader to bring their own colors for the scenes into their imaginations as they create the story that is taking place, creating an entrancing book.

Barbara Lehman creates a fast-paced adventure story in RAINSTORM, where a boy discovers a secret passage that takes him to a tropical island where the sun is shining and there are friends with which he can play. After returning home, he travels again towards the island children and brings them back to his world to play in his room. Children will be enchanted as they travel through the tunnel with the main character and experience the thrill of a new discovery. The bright and simplistic watercolor and ink illustrations bring life and power to the story, captivating the storyteller.

Lehman, Barbara. 2007. RAINSTORM. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780618756391
Sis, Peter. 1999. SHIPS AHOY. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 068816644X