A Word about Wordless Picture Books

Caroline Erdos, Literacy Expert

Dr. Erdos is a consultant for the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board in Quebec and a speech-language pathology advisor for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Canada. Prior to this, she was ALDI Coordinator (Advancing Learning in Differentiation & Inclusion) for the 10 English school boards in Quebec, Canada, where she supported resource teachers through various professional development initiatives. Caroline has over 20 years’ experience as a pediatric speech-language pathologist in a tertiary care centre and has worked as a language and literacy consultant and a legal expert in speech-language pathology. Her areas of expertise include bilingualism and multilingualism, reading impairment, oral language impairment, foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and craniofacial disorders. She has guest lectured at Université de Montréal, McGill University, and the McGill University Health Centre. She has also given workshops at numerous conferences across North America and has written and collaborated on several publications.

We all have heard about the many benefits of parents reading to their child. To name a few, reading builds vocabulary and communication skills, it creates an opportunity for parent-child bonding, and it familiarizes children with an activity that is a big part of the early school years. Did you know that most of the same benefits can be attained with wordless picture books? Wordless picture books are picture books that tell a story without printed words. The only words are on the cover. Because there are no right or wrong interpretations of the pictures, your child might participate even more during storytelling with wordless picture books. These books have the added advantage of allowing you to take turns talking about the story in another language; it is sometimes hard to find books in other languages or these are more expensive.

One way to ‘read’ a wordless picture book is as follows:

1.      Read the title and encourage your child to make predictions about the story.

2.      Do a picture walk through. Look at each page and allow your child to comment on what interests him/her.

3.      Go back to the beginning of the book and make up a story. Allow your child to participate in this.

4.      Pause frequently to ask questions, to comment.

5.      ‘Reread’ the book as often as you like and feel free to take turns adding new elements each time.

A list of wordless picture book titles is available here