15 Amazing Wordless Picture Books for Language Building!

Wordless picture books are fantastic language-building resources. They appeal to kids of all ages and are easily adaptable to addressing many Speech and Language and English Language Arts goals.   Continue reading for some great ways to use wordless picture books along with some of my favorites for sharing with kids.

Here are a few ways to use wordless picture books to build language:

1) Share a wordless picture book with students to get a baseline of their current skills.  I love to get language samples from students, but sometimes they are reluctant to just chat with someone less familiar.  A wordless picture book lends itself to conversation, describing, sentence-level describing, and more.

2) Make Inferences and predictions – most wordless picture books require these skills.  Since there are few if any words, “readers” have to make inferences about what is going on in the picture scene, what characters are thinking, etc. My students love to make predictions about what is coming next.

3) Use wordless picture books to address speech sounds.  When my students are working on speech sounds at the sentence level, wordless picture books are a great opportunity for them to practice their skills in sentences.  We often keep a notebook or dry-erase board handy.  They love to keep track of the words that they use in telling the stories.

Here are a few of my favorites: 15 Wordless Picture Books

This book is well-used in my speech therapy room.  Kids absolutely love the drama and excitement in this wordless picture book by Bill Thomson. Chalk

Journey by Aaron Becker is a beautifully illustrated book that takes “readers” on a highly imaginative adventure.  Kids love to describe the scenes and guess what will happen next.

Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day is a classic.  I have been a speech-language pathologist for a long time, and this has been in my collection since the beginning.  The mischief that a sweet rottweiler gets into is adorable and fantastic for storytelling.  If you love the original, you will also like these:  Good Dog Carl Visits the Zoo,  Good Dog Carl’s Valentine, Carl’s Afternoon in the Park, Carl’s Summer Vacation, and Carl’s Birthday.

Flotsam by David Wiesner is another beautifully illustrated wordless picture book.  This book follows the adventure of a boy finding treasure along the beach and a special discovery of an old camera.  Lots of opportunities for language building here.

Tuesday is another award-winning book by David Wiesner.  This book is great for all ages and gives lots of opportunities to discuss cause and effect.

Another great classic.  The story of A Boy, a Dog and a Frog by Mercer Mayer is so charming.  I love this book for making predictions, describing emotions, and making inferences.  If you love this, you will also like A Frog Goes to Dinner, and One Frog Too Many.

Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie DePaola is a wordless picture book that allows even your youngest students to feel like they can “read” the book by being the author and telling the story.  This book contains great opportunities for sequencing and describing the feelings and expressions of the characters.

This is a newer book in my wordless picture book collection and I absolutely love it.  I Walk with Vanessa is a beautiful story about kindness – something that I find we all need reminders about and such an important lesson for our students.

Fly by Mark Teague is a funny story that will get your students adding dialogue as they look at what is discussed between a baby bird and a mother bird.  Relatable feelings and inferences.

Hike by Pete Oswald is a soothing and charming book that includes beautiful illustrations of nature – perfect for descriptive language.  It also highlights problem-solving, working together, and the relationship between a boy and his dad.  Great opportunities for language building.

So much to describe in this mind-bending book that is great for all ages.  Zoom by Istvan Banyai will get you thinking!

In this Calecott Award Winner by Barbara Lehman, readers of The Red Book follow along on a fascinating journey all centered around a book.  Kids enjoy talking about the adventures that happen as people encounter the book.

One Little Bag – An Amazing Journey by Henry Cole is a beautiful book.  The illustrations alone are amazing and fantastic for describing.  The themes are great for older students in describing not only the importance of the adventure of the bag but also the passing of time.

Although not entirely wordless, Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann is an amazing and eternally popular wordless picture book for my students.  The mischievous gorilla is so charming and funny to my students and they want to tell this story over and over again.

Flashlight by Lizi Boyd is a fantastic addition to your collection of wordless picture books.  In this amazingly illustrated book, kids will explore the wonders of nature at night.

What are some of your favorites?