title: Wonderfully Wordless: The 500 Most Recommended Graphic Novels and Picture Books
author: William Patrick Martin
description: <span><span>'A growing body of research and classroom experience shows the crucial role wordless picture books can play in promoting discussion, inspiring creativity, and boosting language development,' notes Martins introduction. When schools and libraries do wholeheartedly embrace the format, they will be most fortunate to have this spectacularly authoritative resource waiting for them. Compiled out of the choices of librarians, educators and reviewers from around the world, no dark corner is left unexplored, illuminating a far greater array of choices than any reader might have guessed. The choices, furthermore, are ideally arranged for both browsing and targeted navigation, with more than 30 topic-focused chapters covering everything from fantasy, mystery, and comedy, to curricular topics like friendship, numbers and letters, and environmental awareness, delving even into the formats history in woodcut picture books. The choices themselves range from the greats (</span><span style="font-style:italic;">The Snowman, </span><span>Flotsam, </span><span style="font-style:italic;">The Arrival</span><span>) to the most obscure (ever hear of </span><span style="font-style:italic;">The Creepy Thing </span><span>or </span><span style="font-style:italic;">Bens Bunny Trouble</span><span>?), and each one is accompanied by an astute paragraph of commentary. Further sections break the choices down more specifically, granting even greater maneuverability and guaranteeing that every teacher, librarian, parent, or casual reader will find a wellspring of heretofore unimagined possibilities. Absolutely indispensable.</span></span> (<i>Booklist, Starred Review</i>)<br /><br /><span><span>Martin, an educator and politician, after discovering the joy and value of wordless picture books, sought to create an authoritative reference of the best wordless picture books and graphic novels. His database includes more than 7,000 title entries that represent over 140 different sources (reference books, award lists, blogs, etc.) as well as the authors conversations with librarians from many prominent U.S. institutions. Each entry for a book counts as a 'vote,' and the volume presents the top 500 books from the database . . . [T]he author is to be commended in his efforts to create an 'authoritative' reference.</span></span> (<i>Library Journal</i>)<br /><br /><span><span>Divided into thematic sectionsFabulous Friendships, Aquatic Adventures, etc.this is a fabulous recommendation tool for parents and educators.</span></span> (<i>Foreword Reviews</i>)<br /><br /><span><span style="font-style:italic;">Wonderfully Wordless </span><span>is a book listing 500 books with little or no text, purported to be the </span><span style="font-style:italic;">most recommended</span><span> for preschoolers to teens. . . .Selected by 135 experts from 7200 titles, of mostly US and English origin, this collection has been collated into themes e.g. Classic Tales, For and About Babies, Concepts Galore, Numbers and Letters, Fascinating Fantasies, Creative Journeys, Difficult Challenges. Each review comes with a concise synopsis, an age recommendation and a black and white cover image. . . .</span><span>[This is] a useful reference tool for sourcing titles for libraries and for researchers studying the movement of picture books and graphic novels up to the date of its publication.</span></span> (<i>Reading Time</i>)<br /><br /><span><span style="font-style:italic;">Wonderfully Wordless: The 500 Most Recommended Graphic Novels and Picture Books</span><span> is the first in-depth study for wordless and almost-wordless picture books, and gives teachers and parents a fine resource for identifying and using these particular kinds of graphic stories in classroom or home settings. The age ranges move from babies to ESL adults, so there's a very wide range of subjects and approaches included in discussions that have narrowed databases of thousands of titles down to the 500 most highly recommended. Experts from the U.S. and abroad joined together for this project, so </span><span style="font-style:italic;">Wonderfully Wordless</span><span> doesn't reflect a singular approach or expert opinion, but represents the combined wisdom of top literary experts. Moreover, books are arranged by theme and each book receives a small black and white cover photo, a synopsis, and indication of age range. Other references are included in back of the book, making for an important, key reference for any who regularly work with picture books and their readers.</span></span> (<i>Donovan's Bookshelf</i>)<br /><br /><span style="tab-stops:left 85.5pt;"><span>In recent years more and more wordless books have been published, many to great acclaim. But wordless books have a long and rich history, one that is unfamiliar to most people. William Martins </span><span style="font-style:italic;">Wonderfully Wordless</span><span> sheds a long overdue light on the wildly imaginative and creative history of this genre. I have spent my entire career making wordless stories and thought I had a pretty comprehensive knowledge of wordless books. What a delight it was to find myself immediately scribbling down title after title that was new to me. Wonderful.</span></span> (David Wiesner, renowned wordless book artist, only the second artist to ever win three Caldecott Medals)<br /><br /><span><span>This is an invaluable guide to the entire range of picture stories for all ages. If youre a fan of wordless books or if you are just discovering this vital art form, William Martins </span><span style="font-style:italic;">Wonderfully Wordless</span><span> is an essential roadmap to this silent universe.</span></span> (Peter Kuper, illustrator of Mad magazines Spy vs. Spy comic strip and lecturer at Harvard University)<br /><br /><span><span>William Martin has done an astounding job in gathering wordless book titles that he has meticulously classified into themes that would make any teacher, parent, or any avid reader for that matter - find something that would be of interest to them at specific points in their lives: be it for babies, tweens, adolescents, or adults. This is a definitive resource of wordless graphic novels and picture books painstakingly organized into themes such as acts of kindness, creative journeys, fabulous friendships, weird encounters, edifying exploits, marvelous mysteries just to cite a few. This is a labor of love, indeed, and as an avid bibliophile fascinated with visual literacy and the many wonders that wordless books have to offer, I would make it one of my lifes mission as a reader to find the book titles that he has included here.</span></span> (Bacsal Rhoda Myra Garces, assistant professor and coordinator of High Ability Studies and Gifted Education at the National Institute of Education, Singapore)<br /><br /><span><span>Whether you are a parent, a teacher, a librarian, or just someone who enjoys visual narrative, you will find this an amazing resource. Books are cross-referenced and categorized in ways that suggest numerous approaches for sharing and enjoying these titles with children. As a part-time children's bookseller, I went through this list making copious notes on titles I want to add to our inventory. As a writer, I was humbled by this overwhelming evidence that a picture is truly worth a thousand words.</span></span> (Jennifer Armstrong, bookseller and author of more than 100 childrens books)<br /><br /><span><span>Martins book captures the rich diversity and international flavor of sequential art in all its forms. It is the definitive guide to the wordless novel.</span></span> (Stefan Berg, graphic novelist and author of Let That Bad Air Out)
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  [Begin Reading](part0003.xhtml#ch1)
  
  
  [Table of Contents](part0082.xhtml)
  
  
  [About the Author](part0080.xhtml#ata)
  
  
  [Copyright Page](part0083.xhtml#copy)
  
  
  
  
  
  **Thank you for buying this**
  
  
  **St. Martin’s Press ebook.**
  
  
  
  
  
  To receive special offers, bonus content,
  
  
  and info on new releases and other great reads,
  
  
  sign up for our newsletters.
  
  
  
  
  
  [![image](../Images/image00160.jpeg)![image](../Images/image00160.jpeg)](http://us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup?utm_source=ebook&utm_medium=adcard&utm_term=ebookreaders&utm_content=davidrosenfelt_newslettersignup_macdotcom&utm_campaign=9781250133151)
  
  
  Or visit us online at
  
  
  [us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup](http://us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup?utm_source=ebook&utm_medium=adcard&utm_term=ebookreaders&utm_content=davidrosenfelt_newslettersignup_macdotcom&utm_campaign=9781250133151)
  
  
  
  
  
  For email updates on the author, click
  [here](https://us.macmillan.com/authoralerts?authorName=davidrosenfelt&authorRefId=6535599&utm_sourc