I’ve heard it said that wordless picture books are “too easy” for children as they learn to read. What doesn’t seem to be understood is how much these books can help children with reading comprehension. To be proficient readers children need to remember what happened in a story and be able to predict what might happen next. To follow a children’s book that has no words to guide them they must “figure” out the story using only the illustrations and their own imaginations.
Another benefit to wordless books is that they appeal to any child of any reading ability. They also cross language barriers and are often greatly enjoyed by adults (though usually for the high-quality art that must be used in a book like this).
One of the best wordless books I’ve seen released this year is “Alien Farm; Scary Stories for Kids” by American author and illustrator, Carolyn Watson Dubisch. The illustrations are richly toned in black and white with bright yellow accents creating an eerie atmosphere.
The story opens with a UFO beaming sheep aboard their craft. The next sequences show black and gangly aliens lurking among the cows and beaming down into an enclosure of pigs. As the night continues chickens have beamed aboard and aliens are lurking in the corn field menacingly reaching for raccoons that were helping themselves to some corn on the cob.
The story escalates as the aliens circle the farmhouse and look ready to confront the sleeping humans. The people inside awaken and outside with guns, chasing off the alien ships.
They then go off to check on their animals but are in for the surprise of their life as they see that the animals have been altered by the aliens and have such strange features they no longer even seem familiar.
Overall it’s a great story that even has a twist ending that I’ve omitted here. The nighttime scenes and the overall creepiness of the aliens create a general sense of horror but are still very much for young kids. My favorite illustration is in the corn as one lurking alien reaches out ominous for the oblivious animal. Definitely a great book to pick up and share this Halloween!
