Our Montessori Bookshelf: Wordless Picture Books

Meagan Ledendecker • May 8, 2023

Even though they don’t have a written narrative, wordless picture books can be an essential part of young children’s language development. These books have pictures but no text and are often classified around a theme or sequence that is familiar to children. In our toddler and primary classrooms, we have two or three of these books on a shelf at any given time and rotate them throughout the year. Because young children are still distinguishing between what is real and what is of the imagination, we also make sure that the books are plausible, rather than focused on fantasy or imaginary themes. Really, we just take care to choose books that highlight the wonderful world as it really is. 


As our students get older (even into the elementary years), we use wordless picture books to help with storytelling, sequencing, and making predictions. Taking a “picture walk” through the story helps children interpret visual clues and helps lay the foundation for becoming better readers. 


After children have had time to explore a wordless picture book, we may ask them to share their interpretation of what is happening in the story. Children love dictating the story for an older peer or adult to scribe, creating speech bubbles, or even writing their own narration to accompany each page. 


When “reading” a wordless picture book with your child or children, you can describe the illustrations, ask questions about what they see, and even encourage narration of a story to accompany the pictures.

Anno's Journey

by Mitsumasa Anno


This classic book with its full-page, detailed illustration shows the progression of one person’s exploration across a European countryside. The discerning eyes of children find all sorts of delights and connections across the pages. In addition, Anno has woven in treasures for more advanced searching, such as scenes from famous stories and paintings, as well as numerous cultural references. This is a wordless picture book that children can easily lose themselves in for an extended period of time.

Pancakes for Breakfast

by Tomie DePaola


This simple story line shows a woman waking up to the thought of enjoying pancakes. The pages follow her process of checking the recipe, preparing the ingredients, and bumping up against the challenge of missing key elements from the recipe. This requires her to gather eggs, milk the cow, churn the butter, and even go to a neighbor who has tapped some maple syrup. With all of these obstacles almost overcome, she encounters one more big one. But that doesn’t stop her from enjoying some pancakes! One of the delights of this book is how it incorporates words as part of life: from the recipe book, to labels on the dishes or containers, to the final picture hanging on the wall at the end.

Pancakes for Breakfast

by Tomie DePaola


This simple story line shows a woman waking up to the thought of enjoying pancakes. The pages follow her process of checking the recipe, preparing the ingredients, and bumping up against the challenge of missing key elements from the recipe. This requires her to gather eggs, milk the cow, churn the butter, and even go to a neighbor who has tapped some maple syrup. With all of these obstacles almost overcome, she encounters one more big one. But that doesn’t stop her from enjoying some pancakes! One of the delights of this book is how it incorporates words as part of life: from the recipe book, to labels on the dishes or containers, to the final picture hanging on the wall at the end.

Wave

by Suzy Lee


The line drawings and blues of the ocean perfectly capture the childhood experience of running to the beach and dancing with the ebbs and flows of the water. Seagulls stand by while a girl goes through a series of interactions with the waves. From initial stand offishness to full-fledged immersion, the girl and the wave (and even the seagulls) go through a kind of transformation, which is enhanced by the blues that begin to wash across each page as the story unfolds.

Wave

by Suzy Lee


The line drawings and blues of the ocean perfectly capture the childhood experience of running to the beach and dancing with the ebbs and flows of the water. Seagulls stand by while a girl goes through a series of interactions with the waves. From initial stand offishness to full-fledged immersion, the girl and the wave (and even the seagulls) go through a kind of transformation, which is enhanced by the blues that begin to wash across each page as the story unfolds.

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