Stories told with images alone are particularly compelling for pre-literate children, and fire their imaginations for the lettered tales ahead
The idea of wordless picture books might seem slightly baffling – even a waste of time – to adults keen to draw children higher up the literacy ladder. But the best just-picture books require a deeper, more intent commitment from the adult who shares them than the well-worn story whose words patter from grown-up lips without pause for thought. For me, leafing through a wordless or near–wordless book in the company of a curious child prevents my mind detaching and wandering off to check the stove. Perverse as it seems, the fewer words, the more entirely present I am as reader.
Children, too, are adept at spotting the nuances of meaning in wordless books; often more so than adults, since they’re accustomed to transporting themselves deep into the small worlds opened up by a picture book’s panels. The playing field is not simply levelled – it now favours the sharp-eyed and imaginative spinner of wild yarns, meaning the pre-literate child will usually win over their word-bound elders. Just-picture books also welcome children who struggle with reading, or find it boring or intimidating. What draws me to them most strongly, though, are the subtleties of emotion that words can’t capture simply enough for a child to understand, but that images can, and do.
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