As promised, here is the 2nd half of my favorite wordless book reads in the past 5 years. Missed part 1 or older Brainstorms about wordless books? You can find all that here. Click on the titles to see my full review and content notes for each book.
The Paper Boat: a Refugee Story by Thao Lam
A wordless picture book about a girl and her mother, and some ants, who escape war in a boat. It is really helpful to read the author’s note in the back of the book about how this is her own story of escape from Vietnam and how the analogy with the ants was one that came from her family too. (I would even recommend reading it to kids before reading the book.) This puts the plight of refugees escaping by boat into terms that even little kids can process.
Target Readers:
Tender Refugee Story Fans, Vietnam War Studiers, Art Lovers, Those Looking for Books by Vietnamese-Canadian Creators, Picture Book Readers
Red by Jed Alexander
Little Red Riding Hood is on her way to her grandmother's house when she encounters a wolf. The wolf seems to be trying to stall Red, but why? A clever twist on the original Red Riding Hood tale.
Target Readers:
Fractured Fairytale Fans, Prior Knowledge & Prediction in Reading Studiers, Animal Lovers, Fans of Surprises, Picture Book Readers.
Re-Zoom (Zoom, #2) by Istvan Banyai
A wordless book that has you reevaluate what you are looking at as each successive page zooms out and shows you more. This book has you asking the question, ‘How often do we need to take a step back and see the bigger picture to better understand the situation?’ You do need to pay attention to details to figure out how some of the pages relate to the previous one.
Target Readers:
Puzzle Fans, Perspective Play Fans, Those Looking for Books by Hungarian Creators, Picture Book Readers
A Sea of Love by Wilfred Lupano, ill. by Grégory Panaccione
An Italian fisherman sets out for a normal work day, but his net gets caught on the propeller of a bigger fishing ship and he gets pulled way off course. He faces just about all the trials a man lost at sea can face. Meanwhile, his wife is distraught and through various means figures out where she thinks her husband might be headed and sets out to find him. And her journey throws her just as many unforeseen perks as her husband’s trials. Can they find each other in the midst of a huge sea? It’s a look at a deep love, two wild adventures, and a challenge to take better care of the ocean, all wrapped up in one wordless graphic novel.
Target Readers:
Sea Story Fans, Humor Fans, Graphic Novel Fans, Adventure Fans, Those Looking for Books by French Creators, Young Adult/Adult Readers
Sign Off by Stephen Savage
What do the figures on signs do when no one else is around at night? Taking a page from all the stories that imagine what book characters or zoo animals or museum displays do at night, this does the same thing with the images on signs.
Target Readers:
Imaginative Story Fans, Kids Learning Sign Symbols, Humor Fans, Picture Book Readers
Small Things by Mel Tregonning
Bad grades in math and trouble fitting in manifest as little monsters that are eating away at a little boy. He thinks he is the only one with monsters and cracks in himself, until his older sister shares that she struggles too. He admits his struggles, and then his eyes are opened to others struggling. A powerful wordless graphic novel.
Target Readers:
Graphic Novel Fans, Mental Health Story Fans, Kids through Teens Fighting Their Own Monsters, School Counselors, Teachers and Parents Wanting to Start a Conversation with Kids or Teens about Mental Health, Middle Grade & Young Adult Readers
The Snow Rabbit by Camille Garoche
A little girl goes out and makes a snow rabbit. Her friend or sister is in a wheel chair and can’t easily go out, so she brings the rabbit inside to her. The rabbit starts to melt so they decide to try and take the wheel chair out in the snow. To their astonishment, the rabbit comes to life and it starts to grow. Which is a good thing when the wheel chair refuses to move and strange creatures start to close in on the girls. Gorgeous artwork!
Target Readers:
Winter Story Fans, Wheel Chair User Character Fans, Rabbit Lovers, Fantasy Fans, Art Lovers, Heartwarming Story Fans, Those Looking for Books by French Creators, Picture Book Readers
Spot & Dot (Spot the Cat, #2) by Henry Cole
Spot the cat is hot on the trail of Dot, the lost dog. Readers get to see if they can find Spot and Dot in each illustration, and also get to find out if the two will find their way back to their owners.
Target Readers:
Black & White Art Fans, Hidden Picture Fans, Animal Lovers, Picture Book Readers
Stormy: a Story about Finding a Forever Home by Guojing
A wordless picture book about a shy, homeless puppy, and a kind woman who keeps trying to befriend the puppy, but isn't able to fully connect until a big storm.
Target Readers:
Dog Lovers, Animal Adoption Story Fans, Tenderhearted Story Fans, Art Lovers, Those Looking for Books by Chinese Creators, Picture Book Readers
That Neighbor Kid by Daniel Miyares
A little boy starts building a tree house, but seems to be having issues. A curious new neighbor comes to his aid and the two find a new friendship and more color in their lives through the experience.
Target Readers:
Contemporary Fiction Fans, Those Studying the Use of Color to Convey Emotions, Kids Practicing Interpreting Facial Expressions, Friendship Story Fans, Treehouse Story Fans, Picture Book Readers
Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell
A little girl and a little wolf lost in the snow find and help each other. This is a sweet story of one act of kindness being returned for another act of kindness, even though the two parties are supposed to be enemies. The only words in this are onomatopoeia for the sounds the animals in the woods make, so I guess it is debatable whether or not it is truly wordless, but since there’s no dialogue or narration or anything I’m going to include it.
Target Readers:
Kindness Story Fans, Good Samaritan-ish Story Fans, Onomatopoeia Studiers, Winter Story Fans, Caldecott Winner Fans, Picture Book Readers
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