I shared a book called Tuesday with my preschool classes this week, and it made me think about all of the wonderful wordless books out there. These books are perfect for so many different ages-it empowers children who aren't reading yet to "read" the book while letting older children make their imaginations flow. There are tons of great wordless books out there. Here are a few of my favorites.
This book begins with a close-up picture of an unrecognizable object. On the next page, it zooms out to reveal that the object is a rooster's comb. The next page zooms out even further... Also look for Re-Zoom by the same author.
It begins with a class trip to a museum. But one of the exhibits turns out to be particularly engaging for one boy...
The Strawberry Snatcher is hot on the trail of the Grey Lady and her basket full of strawberries. Can she get home before he catches up with her? Or will he be distracted by...blackberries?
The two dolls in this book build themselves a house out of blocks, but when their house catches fire they quickly dismantle the house to build a firetruck...what will they make when the fire is out? This charming book is suitable for the youngest readers.
You Can't Take a Balloon Into the National Gallery by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman and Robin Preiss Glasser
This book is actually the sequel to You Can't Take a Balloon Into the Metropolitan Museum, but students will get a kick out of the DC landmarks in this book. A little girl entering the National Gallery of Art asks a photographer outside to hold her balloon, but when it sails away the girl and her grandmother take a quick trip around the city.
I could easily have put all of David Wiesner's books on this list; he is also the author of Tuesday, the book that inspired this list in the first place. I forced myself to narrow his books down to two, and Free Fall is easily my favorite. It is the story of a dream, and like all of the best dreams it is surreal and somewhat random. Children will love the detailed illustrations in this book, and I think this may be the best one on this list for allowing older children to let their imaginations fly. I couldn't resist including one of my favorite illustrations from this book, though my photograph doesn't even begin to do this book justice.
This book is a bit of a cheat, because it's not totally wordless. In fact, the first half of the book has lots of them, the beginning of the traditional story. But don't make the mistake of sitting down and trying to read this book aloud without flipping through it first-halfway through the book the words disappear, the pictures take over and the story takes an unexpected turn.
We have Tuesday at home. We also love Flotsam by Wiesner. Great books.
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