If you’re an author/illustrator in the picture book business, you probably feel like you’re at an advantage—and to be honest, so do those of us who “just” write or are “just” visual artists. While there is value in being able to create an entire work on your own, I’d like you to imagine, for a minute, not using your words. What does it look like to create wordless picture books?
Visual arts alone can be considered an entire literary work. And, while we’re talking about your art, you can click here to learn more about how to get prepare your art for querying.
Before they could read, all my kids loved to be read to. But when my youngest daughter was a baby, my eldest daughter, who was only two and a half, wanted to “read” to her. She’s brilliant, obviously. But she couldn’t read. So, I invested in wordless picture books. What a joy it was to watch and listen as she narrated wildly innovative stories for her baby sister. It was also really interesting to observe how particular aspects of certain books changed with every reading, and how other things never did. Something about select pictures was uncompromising for her.
I’m making the case for why those of you who are author/illustrators (have I mentioned yet how jealous I am?) out there should sometimes forego the text in your projects.
I’m not an educator or any kind of expert in literacy. I am a mom of four phenomenal kiddos, though, who run the entire spectrum from, “I hate books,” to “I’m grounded because I got caught reading in the middle of the night on a school night.”
And just in case I didn’t convince you, here are some of my favorite wordless picture books.
I think “reading” these will make you at least want to try your hand at creating one.
In the very likely event that reading my suggestions isn’t enough, click here for a list from the Reading Middle Grade blog.
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Joiya put a pause on her career as a child advocate attorney to stay at home with four fabulous kiddos. Reading books became a unifying family experience. But finding stories with characters that represented and reflected the beauty her babies’ beautiful brown skin became a labor of love. When it was time to think about going back to work, Joiya knew her calling had shifted. She pivoted into publishing via the Writers House Internship Program with the ultimate goal of advancing BIPOC creators for the benefit of all children. Joiya writes, edits, and reads while bobbing her head and tapping her feet to jazz, gospel, rap, opera, and Afrobeats.
