Ideas for Enjoying a Wordless Picturebook

• Sit quietly with the book and enjoy the pictures as art.
• Gather an impression of the story without changing it in any way.
• Re-read from beginning to end and look for details you didn’t see the first time.
• Describe the pictures on each page.
• Think about how each page relates to the next.
• Talk about the things that you have in common with one or more characters.
• Share a personal story that relates to an event in the book.
• Ask open-ended questions about the plot, the characters, or the setting.
• How does the story begin?
• Who is the main character?
• Is there more than one?
• What happens next?
• Where does it take place?
• What time of year is it?
• How do you know?
• How would the story change if it took place somewhere else?  
• How does it end?
• Could the end really be another beginning?
• Other than the literal interpretation of the pictures, is the story trying to say anything else?
• Discuss how the book makes you feel.
• What makes you feel that way?  
• The colors?  
• The art medium?
• The style of illustration?  
• The plot?  
• All of those things?  
• Something else?
• Was there an element of surprise in the story?  
• What was it?
• How did it change your impression of the story?
• Find or write a piece of music that makes you feel the same way, and listen to it as you look at the pictures.
• Write your version of the story on post-it notes, add them to the pages, and read the story to someone else.
• Record and share the story inspired by the wordless book.
• Give the characters names, and tell someone what you know about them from the pictures and what you think about them from your imagination.
• Use speech bubbles to add dialogue for the characters.
• Add thought bubbles to convey what the characters are thinking.
• Make copies of the pages or spreads, have individuals or pairs each write about what is happening on one page, then reassemble the book and read the collective story.
• Draft a poem that sums up your thoughts about the story. Share it with others.
• Write a script to accompany the pictures and have different people act out each of the parts while the images are displayed on a large screen.
• Use puppets to act out the story instead of people.
• Think about which character you would most like to be. Talk or write about why.
• Select one page from the book and describe what it would be like to be in the story at that moment in time.  
• What can you see that isn’t on the page?  
• Are there things you can smell?  
• Sounds that you can hear?  
• Things that you can taste?
• Look through all the pages at least one time, then brainstorm a list of words that can be used to explain the book.  
• Limit the number of words on the list
  or include as many words as possible.
• Review and revise the list to include more complex vocabulary.
• Is there a single word that can sum up the entire book?
• Explain why you think the book was created without words.