Wordless
books with no words, only pictures to tell the story
A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka
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Daisy loves her red ball, it is her most favorite thing in the whole world. One day, Daisy’s person takes her and her ball to the park where she meets a friend. Daisy’s friend, Brown Dog, takes Daisy’s ball and accidentally pops it. Daisy and her person return home where Daisy deeply mourns the loss of her favorite toy, but a surprise is in store for Daisy the next day when they return to the park and Brown Dog’s person presents Daisy with a brand new blue ball. In the end, all is well as Daisy gets a new ball and makes a new friend. This book can show students how to make new friends, and also how to handle a certain situation in their life. They need to realize what is important and what they can live without.
The Adventures of Polo by Regis Faller
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The story is of a little dog named Polo who decides to go on a great journey using only a backpack full of supplies and his imagination. Therefore, in being that this is a journey in his imagination, you are constantly surprised by what all he is doing. You never know what he is going to do next. From climbing a staircase into the sky, to getting a king fish to help him on his journey, there is really no knowing where he will end up next. This would be a great story for students because they can try to predict what Polo will do next throughout the story, and what he does. Also in this wordless story, the students are left to figure out what Polo is saying throughout the story, which could be a fun exercise for the students to do after reading the story.
Anno's USA by Mitsumasa Anno
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This book tells the story of the founding of the United States by venturing from west coast to east coast in order to tell the story “backwards” in a sense. The adventure of a lone traveler starts in Hawaii and ends on the east coast with the arrival of English settlers. The story of the wild west, settling of the plains, and building of east coast colonies are all depicted along the journey. This book is good for teaching a lesson about the United States because of all the locations and sites they include in the book. The children will get to know places in the USA and also be familiar with what it is like in other places or states.
Bluebird by Bob Staake
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As an outcast boy walks home, a bluebird decides to be his friend. Though the boy is hesitant at first, eventually he and the bluebird become friends, sharing in activities as the bluebird makes the boy feel wanted. Then, the two end up in dark woods, where bullies confront the boy and the bird loses its life in protecting him. Despite this darkness, the book ends on a positive note, suggesting that the bluebird has gone on to a better place. In such a short book, Staake covers friendship and sacrifice succinctly and makes readers feel for both the boy and the bluebird. This book can teach students about bullying and what happens to children who are bullied. It can also make them aware of what is going on around in the school, and have them try to prevent things from happening.
Flotsam by David Wiesner
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This book starts off with a little boy at the beach with his family. He is exploring the sand and the water looking for critters and new beach animals. He has many different beach tools (bucket, eyeglass, telescope, shovels) and uses them to find more things. He goes to the water, and a wave comes and knocks him over. After this he finds an underwater camera. He shows the camera to his parents and then later takes it to be developed in an hour. Looking at this camera there are pictures of the ocean of water. These include red fish, octopus, fish flying over the sea, turtles, seahorses, starfish, and a picture of a girl holding a picture. He looks at this picture closer and notices there is a picture in a picture in a picture, until the first owner of the camera. He holds the picture and takes a picture of himself with the picture. He then throws it into the ocean. The camera goes through the night with squids, fish, whales, seahorses, underwater sea life, with dolphins, the cold, and finally a beach with a girl who then finds and picks up the camera.
The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
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This story has little words, only animal noises to enhance the story. The rest of the story is told through pictures.The story shows a mouse disturbing a lion, who lets the mouse go, and then the mouse helps the lion escape from a poacher net. The facial expressions of the animals also helped tell the story. It also of course would be great for children. They will enjoy the vivid images and the touching story of friendship. I also think the massage that friends can come in all shapes and sizes is important for children to understand.
Tuesday by David Wiesner
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This book starts on Tuesday evening at a swamp with a turtle on a log. After a little bit frogs on lily pads come flying over his head in the sky. They fly upside down and sideways all through the swamp and through fields that go into town. When they are in town they fly by birds and over houses as people sleep. Around 11:21 pm they fly by a man’s window as he eats a sandwich, after that they continue to fly through yards of homes. As this happens they get caught into people’s laundry, and lines in the yard. They continue to fly and fly into people’s homes and watch TV for a little. They then fly into the backyard around 4:38 am as a dog chases them away, which they then retaliate back. As they are flying they get caught in a tree and lose their flying lily pads. They then hope back through the town, through the fields, to the swamp where they cannot fly anymore. The next day there are lily pads everywhere and everyone is curious of where they came from.