Below are selected wordless picture books which can be used in the ELA classroom.
by David Wiesner
On a trip to the beach, a science-minded boy makes a discovery that sparks his imagination like never before.
by Aaron Becker
These three books – Journey, Quest, and Return – follow the adventures of a young girl who draws a door in her wall with a marker. She meets a strange boy, has to rescue a king and a kingdom, and eventually finds her way back home.
by Suzy Lee
A little girl is nervous during her first visit to the beach, but she gradually loses her fear of the roaring waves.
Unspoken: A story from the Underground Railroad
by Henry Cole
When a farm girl discovers a runaway slave hiding in the barn, she is at once startled and frightened. But the stranger’s fearful eyes weigh upon her conscience, and she must make a difficult choice. Will she have the courage to help him?
story by JonArno Lawson, illustrated by Sydney Smith
A little girl collects wildflowers while on a walk with her distracted father. Each flower becomes a gift, and whether the gift is noticed or ignored, both giver and recipient are transformed by their encounter.
story by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
A young girl watches as the everyday activities across the street from her bus stop – like putting up posters, washing windows, or climbing a ladder – become a circus.
by Matthew Cordell
When a wolf cub and little girl are both lost in a snowstorm, they must help each other to find their way home.
by Jerry Pinkney
After a ferocious lion in the Serengeti plains spares a cowering mouse that he’d planned to eat, the mouse later comes to his rescue, freeing him from a poacher’s trap.
by Jeannie Baker
The events and changes in a young boy’s life and in his environment, from babyhood to grownup, are shown through wordless scenes observed from the window of his room.
by Barbara Lehman
This book is about a book: a magical red book without any words. It crosses oceans and continents to deliver one girl into a new world of possibility, where a friend she’s never met is waiting.
by Bob Staake
Follow the journey of a bluebird who becomes friends with a lonely and bullied young boy, and ultimately saves the boy’s life.
Finding More Resources
To find more resources in this area, try the following:
- Search using the General tab on the UBC Library website to look for material in all UBC Library branches.
- Search using “Search Education Resources” box in the left hand bar on the Education Library website to limit your results to physical materials in the Education Library.
- Use specific search terms, such as “stories without words” or “stories without words – juvenile fiction”.
- To find lesson plans, include “lesson plans”, “lesson planning”, or “activity programs” in your search terms.
For more help with searching, please visit the Library Service Desk or e-mail ed.lib@ubc.ca.