![]() When you open a wordless picture book, there are only images. So it can be unnerving for some to open a book and not have that text to guide them. When you get to the end of the entire text, you’re generally done with the book. When you finish the text on a page, that’s your signal to turn the page. You read the text on a page first, and then you see how the art relates to what you’ve just read. ![]() Most people defer to words, so when an adult reads a book with text to a child, the text structures that interaction. That partnership with a child is the most exciting part of my bookmaking experience as an author. A wordless (or almost wordless) picture book asks children to collaborate in the storytelling process - a very empowering request. When an artist removes the text, they invite readers to decode the pictures for themselves, so every child reads the book in their own unique way according to their own personal life experiences and background. It’s a radical decision that an artist makes to not use words. ![]() ![]() The pictures are the language and they must be read as carefully as any book with text. How do you read a wordless picture book? You read the pictures - and there are no air quotes around the word read. ![]()
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