By now I'm sure you've all heard that Jerry Pinkney's beautiful book The Lion and the Mouse is the recipient of this year's Caldecott Medal. I was personally so taken with this book, that uses only pictures (and a few animal sounds) to retell the Aesop's fable of a Lion who lets a mouse go and how the mouse is able to return the favor. Sharing wordless books, or nearly wordless books (like Jez Alborough's Hug), is a wonderful way for children to develop their narrative skills and vocabulary, as parent/cargiver and child can talk about the pictures: figuring out what's happening, making up the story, describing the characters and action. While they aren't the best for storytime sharing, they're perfect for one-on-one sharing and that also helps develop a love for books and reading. Some of my favorite wordless (or nearly wordless) picture books (in addition to those above) are:
- Leslie Patricelli. Higher! Higher!
- Wiesner, David. Tuesday
- Luthardt, Kevin. Peep!
What are your favorites?
Comments
I like Bow-Wow Bugs A Bug by
I like Bow-Wow Bugs A Bug by Mark Newgarden as well as the ones above. Another neat thing that was pointed out to me (on this blog?) is that wordless books are great for other language speakers. They can use the pictures to make up the story in their own language.
Vicky
Goodnight Gorilla and The Red
Goodnight Gorilla and The Red Book
Wonderful wordless books
I love Flotsam by David Weisner, another Caldecott winner. The story really sucked me in! I think a good wordless book makes you forget that it is wordless.
~Monica