The Best Wordless Picture Books
We’ve always had a special place in our hearts for wordless picture books in our family. Maybe it’s the sense of discovery that they offer, as so many of them have you playing detective along the way. Or maybe it’s the opportunity they provide to really engage with our kids and talk about the book in more depth than we usually do. But, whatever it is, there’s no doubt that our home library is full of wordless picture books that we’ll remember forever.
The special thing about wordless picture books is that they allow you the freedom to fill in the story with your own words. It might seem strange to kids at first, and they might even be resistant to the idea if they’ve never seen a wordless picture book before. But, similar to a kid who has forgotten how to play or use their own imagination, the floodgates will eventually open up and lead to a very rewarding experience.
Wordless picture books obviously force you to pay even better attention to the illustrations than usual, and really dig into the details together. I find that this naturally leads to a dialogic reading style with the kids - with lots of valuable questions and conversations. Digging into the meaning of the book in this way has a lot of benefits - not the least of which is connecting with the emotions of the characters on a deeper level.
That journey of discovery that you take to truly understand what’s going on naturally builds your empathy with the characters in the books. To understand what’s taking place you often have to relate with their behaviors and expressions, and it’s no surprise that wordless picture books can turn out to be a great lesson in empathy.
And when you are the one filling in the blanks and telling the story to each other, it’s also quite natural that the imagination will often be firing on all cylinders. As you talk about what you’re seeing, it’s almost like you and the kids become the storytellers in a way, and that ownership of the story certainly leads to pretty special engagement.
At the end of the day, well-made wordless picture books tend to leave a lasting impression in a way that traditional picture books do not. The beautiful images (and your personal interpretation of them) leave an imprint on the brain the way that memorable dreams do. You think back on them many years down the road and remember the way they made you feel, even if you can’t recall all of the details.
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10. Flora and the Flamingo
Written and Illustrated by Molly Idle
Molly Idle does a fantastic job capturing movement in Flora and the Flamingo - a picture book about a little girl imitating and trying to dance with a flamingo. The book takes a very innovative approach to conveying motion in a very immediate way - much more active than a simple page turn. Occasionally it makes use of flaps that do a wonderful job conveying how quickly the characters are moving - and it really brings it to life.
Idle began her career as an artist for DreamWorks, and it really shows. To me the book plays out like an animated short. It’s remarkable how much humor and emotion can be conveyed through facial expressions and body language, and this book is a terrific example of that. It’s also worth pointing out that if you have a little dancer in your family, this is certain to be a favorite.
9. The Girl and the Bicycle
Written and Illustrated by Mark Pett
The Girl and the Bicycle tells the story of a girl who is trying to save money to purchase her own bike. The bulk of the story shows the girl performing various odd jobs trying to scrape together the money she needs. But by the time she has the money, the bicycle she wanted has already been sold.
It’s a very heartwarming moment when you discover what she ends up doing with the money she collected with all of her hard work. It’s a fantastic story about generosity and kindness, and one that I’m very happy to share with our kids. It’s a great opportunity to have a conversation about empathy and generosity. Not to mention the art suits me very well - reminding me of the style of cartoons like Mutts.
8. Good Dog, Carl
Written and Illustrated by Alexandra Day
Good Dog, Carl is a classic that is full of nostalgia for us, and one that makes for a fantastic baby’s first board book. It’s similar in a lot of ways to Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman, because it’s a wordless picture book where the two main characters are just exploring and getting into mischief together. But in this case you have a baby and a dog that is tasked with playing babysitter.
Good Dog, Carl also focuses much more on the mischief than The Snowman does. Kids love the trouble that Carl and the baby get into, and that’s the source of all the laughter you’re going to get. I’ve also always loved the illustrations of Day - and they make the entire package not just hilarious, but also very charming and soothing.
7. Found.
Written by Jeff Newman and Illustrated by Larry Day
Found does a remarkable job of capturing and conveying emotions, and there’s no doubt that it will be cherished by pet lovers everywhere. The pictures tell the tale of a girl who has lost her dog, but finds another lost dog on the streets at the same time. It’s about loving and letting go and the powerful emotions of love that we develop with our furry friends.
The painful feelings of letting go of an animal you love is a very strong emotion to explore with the kids, and will certainly lead to a good conversation. And they also manage to sneak in an important message about animal adoption from the animal shelter, which is why I consider Found a fantastic proponent for taking care of animals. This one is very beautiful.
6. Wolf in the Snow
Written and Illustrated by Matthew Cordell
Wolf in the Snow won the Caldecott in 2018, and it certainly was very deserving. The art is beautiful and in a very original style. I’m particularly a big fan of the two-page spread when the child and the wolf stare at each other. Admittedly you’ll find a few words inside the book, but they are all just noises, and you still have plenty of room to do all of the interpreting on your own.
The story is about a child who gets lost in the woods saving a wolf pup who was separated from its pack. Things look quite bleak for being reunited with her own family, but the wolves intervene on her behalf to repay the favor. The wordless nature of the book makes a lot of sense, because so much of the story is about the unspoken understanding between human and wolf. In a lot of ways it feels like a classic fairy tale, which gives me the impression it will be beloved for a long while.
5. The Arrival
Written and Illustrated by Shaun Tan
Shaun Tan is a genius - there’s just no other way to describe his art and his storytelling. He has the power to transport you to other worlds in a way we should never take for granted. If you haven’t discovered any of his works before, I highly recommend that you look them up right away and take your time exploring his imagination. And The Arrival is the perfect place to start - the incredibly original story of immigration portrayed by a man in a literal alien world.
The Arrival is probably better classified as a graphic novel if you want to argue semantics, but what is a picture book if not a book where the pictures are a primary feature. But, with that said, know that this book will take longer to get through than your average picture book, with more than 100 pages in it. But I can’t stress enough how worth it the effort is. Our 7-year-old had his imagination captured by this strange world - and was especially infatuated with the strange alien pet the man befriends. And there’s no doubt that older kids and adults will get just as much out of this one if not more.
4. Tuesday
Written and Illustrated by David Wiesner
Tuesday is so emblazoned in my memory of reading books as a child that I even placed it on our list of the best picture books of all time. And the fact that these images of flying frogs are burned into my memory is a true testament to the power of wordless picture books. It’s still to this day the first wordless picture book introduced to kids at home or in the classroom, and it does a wonderful job of opening up a new kind of storytelling.
The details of the illustrations are outstanding, and they lend themselves to a very slow reading with children. You aren’t going to want to rush to flip to the next page. Make sure to go slow and talk about all of the hilarious little details you can find. And my favorite part is that there’s absolutely no explanation for these flying frogs. It’s simply a random mystery executed with perfection and full of laughs.
3. The Little Barbarian
Written and Illustrated by Renato Moriconi
As a very big fan of the power of the child’s imagination, The Little Barbarian is an absolute delight. So amazingly good is the final big reveal of this book - I absolutely refuse to give it away. Even the back of the book is careful not to give anything away - setting it up as a book about a little barbarian on a quest. Please just trust me that it is amazing, and full of very relatable emotions about childhood nostalgia and the power of play.
The book itself is very originally made. It’s about half the width of your average picture book, so it looks quite skinny. But this is done to give it the quality of something like a flip book - a series of adventures the barbarian is running through quite quickly. The Little Barbarian is a special creation. It makes me very happy and simultaneously a little bit wistful.
2. I Walk With Vanessa
Written and Illustrated by Kerascoët
Among all of the wordless picture books that unintentionally turn into great lessons in empathy, I Walk With Vanessa is actually a very explicit lesson in empathy. And it’s actually one of the very best picture books about empathy ever made. I can’t say enough good words about the special act of kindness you find in this book, and I think every kid needs to read this one.
Vanessa is a new girl in school, and she’s really struggling to fit in. On top of that, she gets bullied, and nobody does anything about it. One young witness of the events deals with her sadness and her guilt about what she saw all night long - and these wordless moments of reflection are very powerful. And the next day she decides to stand up for what she thinks is right and make a difference for Vanessa.
1. The Snowman
Written and Illustrated by Raymond Briggs
The Snowman has a special place in my heart, and not just because of my love for the Christmas season. And it’s not just because of the incredibly special animated movie inspired by it, or the fact that our family goes to watch the local symphony play along with the movie every year - although admittedly that might be a part of it. It’s also because the book does an absolutely brilliant job of capturing childhood magic.
You know that I’m a big fan of childhood, imagination, and magic - and The Snowman embodies all of that so well. It’s like a beautiful, artistic version of Frosty the Snowman - with a snowman coming to life to play with. And the artwork is absolutely stunning. The two-page spreads are straight out of a dream and fit for a museum. And, no matter what anybody says, the melancholy ending is simply perfect. What a masterpiece.
More amazing wordless picture books to discover:
Unspoken by Henry Cole
Chalk by Bill Thomson
Float by Daniel Miyares
Flashlight by Lizi Boyd
Journey by Aaron Becker
The Flower Man by Mark Ludy
Another by Christian Robinson
Do you also like to read wordless picture books with your family or in your classroom? Did your favorite wordless picture book make our list? Let us know in the comments!
