The Best Wordless Picturebooks for Primary School Children
Wordless picture books are like portals to imaginative worlds where stories unfold without a single written word. Instead of relying on text, these books let the illustrations do all the talking. There’s a superb variety of wordless picturebooks available for children in KS2, Ks2 and EYFS, and we’ve picked out some of the best wordless picturebooks for primary-aged children.
More and more teachers are discovering that wordless picture books can inspire incredible literacy learning across the primary age range, right up to Year 6. Books that tell stories through pictures alone can help develop visual literacy, expand the imagination, start discussions about interpretation and give children space to add spoken or written narratives of their own.
From EYFS right through to Year 6, the role of wordless picturebooks in literacy development and imaginative enjoyment is hugely valuable. Wordless picturebooks help to break down language barriers and invite readers of all ages to craft their own stories based on the pictures before them. Curious details and intriguing clues in the illustrations enable the narratives of wordless picturebooks to be open to a range of interpretations – levelling the playing field for every reader to be the storyteller.
From whimsical wordless delights like the adventure of flying frogs in David Wiesner’s award-winning Tuesday to poignant stories of displacement and migration like Shaun Tan’s The Arrival, this booklist features a selection of the best wordless picturebooks for children aged 4-11.
