I Feel Smart: On Wordless Picture Books and Perception
Just thinking out loud here…
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It’s another great year for wordless picture books.
What draws us to stories told exclusively through illustration? A good story is paramount, of course, but I think there’s something about our brains that respond to visuals first. It’s how we take in the world.
I keep coming back to the idea that wordless books have the side effect of making the reader feel smart.
I don’t mean this in a negative way. In wordless books, the reader isn’t guided through the story – she must interpret the narrative on her own. This gives a feeling of accomplishment. Perhaps even subconsciously, you feel smart for “getting it”.
Is this a bad thing? Not at all. But I wonder if this perception means that we (without necessarily knowing it) see wordless books as having a leg up in some way. Are we more likely to have positive impressions of a wordless book because it’s wordless?
Is a story better when it’s in more our heads than on the page?
What do you think?
Filed under: Articles
About Travis Jonker
Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.
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Year after year I receive complaints from MANY parents about picture books. “My student is too smart for picture books; he needs chapter books (preferably ones without illustrations).” My student is NOT reading; she is just looking at the pictures.”
I love the Book Without Pictures–plan to read it some Friday down the road. My students will love it, but I don’t think we need to back off our enjoyment and use of picture books, even wordless ones. The book without words will be a great one to read, but for the student who struggles with decoding, that book is a complete waste of time–until, with the tremendous help of illustrations, that student learns to read those words.
Thanks for your comment, Ed – I’m very much with you.
This makes me want to ask those parents why they watch TV when radio gives them all the words.
Like all picture books (including BJ’s), the illustrations, design, and layout can (and usually do) add so much to the story, whether there is text or not. Sometimes artists add subplots via illustrations that were never mentioned in the text. Other times, the illustrations are simply ‘showing’ what’s written.
Coming from the writing (but not illustrating) side, I try to leave as much room as possible for illustrators to have fun with the texts I write. I’ll attempt to set them up so they can add humor or emotion that isn’t ‘written.’ But rarely do you find wordless picture books not written by those illustrating. I can’t think of any completely wordless, but I can think of some with only a few words. (Illustrator notes are frowned upon as they imply to potential editors that the text isn’t strong enough)
So when you as are ‘we’ more likely to have positive impressions of a wordless book because it’s wordless, I think it comes down to who the ‘we’ are. I think those of us who are excited by picture books hope (and expect) to use our imaginations when reading picture books. Maybe some folks need to be ‘told’ what’s going on. And some wordless picture books aren’t layered and are so straight-forward that there’s nothing extra to ‘get.’
If I had to sum it up in short, I’d say it comes down to re-readability. The best picture books are so layered that you notice something new and different each time you read them or you come away with a strong emotional feeling. Wordless picture books by nature may more often have that ‘show don’t tell’ effect, but I think picture books with words can have the same effect when done right.
Some interesting musing here. Right now, I am sharing a number of wordless books at the end of the day with my students. We don’t call this “read aloud” time but “tell aloud” time – which is really talk, wonder, interpret, reassess, talk some more time. I love the language wordless books discover in all of us.
From the other side of the coin I’ve spoken to illustrator/authors who admit that they are aware that their strengths lie in illustration and not in text and try to avoid writing because they view it as a hinderance to their storytelling abilities. Coming from a storyboarding/comic background you often look at your work from a visual narrative. You want your visuals to be able to tell as much of the story as possible. When you study your work it’s like watching silent film. If you have no dialogue you lean on visuals to be your storyteller, which it is more than capable of doing if you know how to do it correctly.
Dan, I agree very much with what you’re saying. I personally have no talent for illustrating (and never will). But I believe that storytelling via text and storytelling via illustrations are two very different talents. And while they both involve telling stories, they are two drastically different crafts that each have their own separate learning curves.
Makes me jealous of those few ‘author-onlies’ who get to actually work in tandem with illustrators and can develop stories together (see: Sam and Dave).
I love rereading wordless books with my students because they often see things I did not see the first time around. In general that is why I love wordless picture books….there is always something I miss…always something new to be discovered with the next reading. I learn so much from sharing it with others and rereading it or….reseeing it.
Jarrett Krosoczka said at a Library of Congress event back in June that he found wordless picture books to be really helpful with children who were feeling left out because they couldn’t read yet–they had the desire but not the skills to engage with the book on their own. Wordless books allowed them to take control of the reading experience, even without being able to decode text.
I tell customers that wordless books prompt a sharing between adult and child when they are read together, and parents can learn so much by listening to what their child is noticing, is curious about, etc. I also recommend wordless books to customers looking for a book to share as a family–to allow everyone to weigh in and tell what they are seeing.