Tips for reading wordless books

Some of my favorite books to read have no words, on the other hand, some of my least favorite books to read have no words. The illustrations in a wordless book make all of the difference, and my personal comfort level with the book helps too. If I know that I'm going to read a book with no words to the class, there are a couple of things that I like to do to prepare;

Flip through the book and familiarize myself with it. I pay attention to the sequence of events, the characters, and the ending. This way, I will be able to use my verbal and nonverbal communication skills to add to the story - because I know what is coming next. 

Choose one character to follow. It is usually pretty obvious who the main character of the book is, but it can be harder to tell with a wordless book. If there is a character you can follow throughout the pages, it will help you develop a consistent story.  

Tell the story differently each time. You can make up all kinds of stories with the same wordless book - they will generally follow the same plot line and sequence, but you don't have to use the same words every single time you read the book. My goal in doing this is to help the children understand that there isn't always a right or wrong way to tell a story.  

Wordless books are great for encouraging children to practice their storytelling skills. When I ask preschoolers to read to my they usually respond "I don't know how to read!" They can't use that excuse with a wordless book because there aren't any words to read.  

Here are some of my favorite wordless books to read aloud (all links are affiliates)

Tuesday (David Wiesner) 

Hug (Jez Alborough) 

Mr. Wuffles! (David Wiesner) 

The Snowman (Raymond Briggs) 

Good Night, Gorilla (Peggy Rathmann) 

 Good Dog, Carl (Alexandra Day)

Tell me about your favorite wordless books in the comments!