Wordless Books

Wordless books? What's the use of wordless books. In wordless books, the author tells the story through the pictures. Then the reader “reads” by making up his/her own story to match the pictures. It’s a great way to foster creativity and the use of expressive language. I have two favorite wordless books. The first is Tuesday by David Wiesner. I've used this book with all elementary grades, and they LOVE it. I love to watch the children's reaction when I show them the last two pages. You can just see the wheels of thought and imagination turning in their heads. Children of all ages and abilities will enjoy making up the story to go with this book. As I've worked with third, fourth and fifth graders teaching them how to be effective"reading buddies" with the younger grades, I've used Tuesday as an example of a book they can "read" with their buddies, regardless of their buddy's reading ability.

Tuesday
A great wordless (or nearly wordless) book for engaging children in creative writing is The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg. This book contains fourteen black-and-white drawings, each accompanied by a title and a caption. The children are first intrigued by a mysterious introduction explaining how the incomplete manuscript had been found. Then they are invited to finish the stories.

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick