Children's Literature

A guide to researching children's literature, including links to book awards, online children's book collections, author biographies, and links to various genres of children's books in the library collection

About Wordless Books

"Wordless books are picture books in which the story line is told entirely through pictures and offer young children the chance for a different form of participation. Wordless books are helpful in developing some of the skills necessary for reading. Handling the book, turning the pages, beginning at the left-hand side and moving to the right are all skills that give the young child a sense of directionality and the experience of acting like a reader. These books are particularly useful in stimulating language development by encouraging children to take an active part in storytelling. Many of them are laid out in the same sequential style as comic books and graphic novels, and have wide appeal to different age levels. As children relate the story, they become aware of beginnings, endings, the sequence of the story, the climax, the actions of the characters—all necessary for learning how a story works, for developing a sense of story. “Reading” or telling what is happening in the pictures in a wordless book also requires specific comprehension skills. In order to help the child tell the story, pictures must show action and sequence clearly so children will not be confused in their tellings." -- "Books For The Very Young." Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. London: Continuum, 2005. Credo Reference. Web. 28 September 2012.
Photo by Laura Muntz Lyall (1860-1930) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Selected Titles

Below are some of the wordless books available in the library collection. Find more here