Unlocking Stories in Wordless Books

Oh, this is my absolute favorite topic! Wordless books are magical for developing narrative skills because kids have to become the storytellers themselves.

My go-to title is “Journey” by Aaron Becker. The illustrations are stunning, and there’s so much happening on each page that every reading can be different. The prompt that really unlocked rich storytelling with my own kids was asking, “What do you think she’s feeling right now?” instead of “What’s happening?” Feelings-based prompts get kids to infer motivation and internal states, not just describe action.

With my youngest, who was about four at the time, we’d also do a “noticing walk” through the book first. I’d ask her to point out small details, like the red crayon on the floor or the bird in the corner. Then, on the second read, those details became part of her story. She started making connections like “Maybe the bird is following her to help” or “She drew the door because she was lonely.” That’s inference in action, and it came from her, not from me telling her what the story meant.

I also love doing different voices for different pages to model how tone and pacing change the narrative. Sometimes we’d tell it like an adventure story, sometimes like a quiet, reflective journey. It shows kids that the same images can support different storytelling styles.

Picture books without words are most effective when adults leave the storytelling to the children and they own their stories. The teachers in Sunny Glen Children Home tend to sit close to the pre-readers and read one page at a time, taking ample time to allow children to observe information on their own. The thinking remains on what they watch, what they believe is going on, as well as what could be next. Among the favorite titles there is Flotsam that opens the door to layered storytelling, but does not need any reading skills. The word that opens the narrative most is a simple word that is used everywhere in the book: “What.” What did you think had happened just before this picture? Those questions force kids to make guesses, chronicle events, and think out loud. In a couple of sessions, children start to add their emotion, motive, and dialogue themselves. New images began to emerge and they begin revising previously held ideas. Such transformation reflects the increasing narrative control and elastic thinking, without any pressure. Wordless books allow children to have the freedom to trust their voice initially, and this creates a solid lead in their future reading and writing.

Wordless picture books build oral narrative and inferencing skills by inviting children to describe images, sequence events, and explain characters’ feelings and motives. Use short, consistent prompts that ask who is in the picture, what they are doing, why they might be doing it, and what comes next to guide responses without supplying the story. One favorite title is Tuesday by David Wiesner, whose surreal, detailed spreads prompt imaginative explanations and cause-and-effect reasoning. A simple prompt that often unlocked rich storytelling was: “Choose one character on this page and tell me where they just came from, how they feel, and what will happen to them next.”