Jim Trelease: Wordless Picture Books

Wordless Picture Book List #readaloud #preschool #parents

We’re super excited to bring you the first in a series of questions and answers with the author of this summer’s book study pick on the topic of literacy.

Q & A with Author Jim Trelease on the Value of Wordless Picture Books in #preschool and #kindergarten

Jim Trelease, the author of The Read-Aloud Handbook (7th edition), has graciously agreed to answer a series of read-aloud questions which we will be featuring periodically throughout the book study.

If you’re just tuning in you can read all about the book study HERE. In anticipation of the first chapter discussion which premieres on Monday, July 8, I thought you might like to hear what Jim has to say about wordless picture books.

Wordless Picture Books for Early Literacy

Question:
What are your recommendations and thoughts regarding “reading” a book that has no words to a group of young children?

Answer:
Wordless books are a wonderful introduction to books and plotting for children who can’t read yet. Since we become picture-literate before we become print-literate, they can “read” the book if someone helps blaze a trail through the narrative initially. After hearing the book and seeing how the clues for the narrative are all in the pictures/illustrations, the child can pretend to read, though in fact they are taking real steps in reading. Just as pilots “read” the sky ahead of them (no words, just images of clouds), the child is taking a reading on the plot from the illustrations.

Best wordless picture books for #preschool and #kindergarten

Jim makes some great points and I love his analogy of pilots- so true! As a teacher of young children I can’t stress the importance of wordless picture books enough in both preschool and kindergarten. Often, this vital step in the early literacy process is skipped in a rush to teach letters and words. True reading isn’t just about decoding the printed words on a page; it is about gaining meaning from both words and pictures.

Some of the skills that wordless picture books support are:

  • Comprehension
  • Vocabulary
  • Oral Language
  • Inferring
  • Predicting

If you’re a Common Core person then you will recognize that all of the skills listed above are components of the Common Core State Standards for kindergarten- just sayin.

Of course, we can’t just throw a wordless picture book their way and expect children to know what to do with them, it takes time and modeling. When sharing a wordless picture book with young children it is crucial that you ask questions along the way and model how to “tell the story.”

When reading a wordless picture book, ask questions such as:

  • What do you think is happening here? (comprehension)
  • What makes you think that? (inferring)
  • What do you think will happen next? (predicting)
  • Why? (vocabulary and oral language)

Wordless picture books can also be a great motivational tool. Even those students who struggle with letter recognition or other academic skills can feel like successful readers when given a wordless picture book.

Wordless Picture Book List

I have compiled a list of my favorite wordless picture books for you below.
Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie dePaola
Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann (although not completely wordless it still supports all the skills listed above)
The Red Book by Barbara Lehman
Truck by Donald Crews
Changes, Changes by Pat Hutchins
Chalk by Bill Thomson
Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day (nearly wordless)
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
Deep in the Forest by Brinton Turkle
The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Where’s Walrus by Stephen Savage

Book Study Blog Party: The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease

13 thoughts on “Jim Trelease: Wordless Picture Books”

  1. I love to use these books in my kindergarten class to promote early writing as well. After we look at the books together and discuss them, I have my students WRITE the words themselves. I let them work in pairs (something we don’t often due when writing) and write their words on sentence strips. I then put the whole thing together for either a class book or a picture book walk in the hallway. I’ve never seen such motivated writers!

    Here’s an example using Deep in the Forrest.

    http://lookatmyhappyrainbow.com/deep-in-the-forest/

    1. Excellent ideas Matt!! Reading, writing, and storytelling to hand-in-hand. It’s so important that we motivate children to both read AND write and you have provided a perfect example at the link.

  2. Most people know me as the illustrator of the BISCUIT series, by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, but I also do wordless books, too. Unlike many wordless books, which can be very sophisticated, the JACK books are geared to a young child’s level of interest and humor. Each book uses visual patterns and sequences to tell a short, charming, and funny story. These books will be endlessly useful for encouraging careful observation, language development, sequencing, plot development, and ultimately, a love of books and reading. Please check out JACK AND THE NIGHT VISITORS and all of the JACK books.

  3. Great intro to the book study, Vanessa. I think too often we dismiss wordless books as not “real reading.” But kids can have rich storytelling experiences with those books.

  4. Kristin VanCuren Koester

    I’ve read some of the wordless books listed above but I’m super eager to try some of the other ones Jim suggests. We read Changes, Changes this year & it was a big hit. We also read some other wordless books that we really liked. We read The Wave by Suzy Lee and Yellow Umbrella by Jai-Soo Liu (which came with a CD of music that you can play) & the illustrations are just gorgeous!

  5. I think picture books are great for all ages. They are conversational texts allowing exploration of all the inferences the illustrator has planted. They also allow for tremendous expansion of thinking and they don’t simply follow one story line. Good for everyone in my book!
    Thanks for the great post.

  6. I am a huge fan of wordless picture books. I’d like to suggest Dinosaur! by Peter Sis, Breakfast for Jack by Pat Schories and Chicken and Cat Clean Up by Sara Varon. These books provide great opportunities for speech and language development (I’ve had really good success using WPB with a speech-delayed child). They are also terrific for multilingual families as they can be enjoyed in any language (or more than one language).

    1. Thanks for your suggestions Carolyn, I will add them to the list above! Thanks also for the information about your success using WPB with speech-delayed children and multililngual families.

  7. I taught kindergarten for about 10 years and my students loved to write about their favorite part of the story we read. Then they would illustrate what they just wrote. I would remind them to add details to their writing and drawing. They had fun during writing time. I would display their finished product in the hall for all to read.

  8. Carol Belanger

    I have to admit I’ve not used wpb as I should. Seeing all these positive posts, this will be incorporated into my teaching with enthusiasm.

  9. Pingback: Summer Book Studies - PreKinders

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