Posted on November 21st, 2011 by Carolyn - Storytime Standouts
Regular readers of Storytime Standouts will know that I am a fan of wordless and almost wordless picture books. When an adult shares a wordless picture book with a child, the adult loses the “reading advantage.” In a wordless picture book, there are almost no words to read. The story is told through the illustrations so both adult and child can partner to “read” the story and decide what it is all about.
Wordless picture books are great for vocabulary development because they encourage co-readers to discuss the illustrations as they move through the story. Wordless picture books are terrific for multi-lingual families because they can be enjoyed in any language. Additionally, wordless picture books provide a non-reading child the opportunity to “read” the illustrations and retell a story. Learning to “read” illustrations and retell stories are valuable skills for pre-readers and beginning readers to develop.
Hocus Pocus - story by Sylvie Desrosiers, illustrations by Rémy Simard
When Mister Magic arrives home with his top hat, Dog and a bag full of groceries, he is ready to relax. He puts on headphones, sits in a comfortable chair and listens to music. Before long, Mister Magic and Dog are both fast asleep and Hocus Pocus, a mischievous rabbit is scrambling out of Mister Magic’s top hat. Hocus Pocus sees Mister Magic’s carrots peeking out of the grocery bag and wants one. He worries about awakening Dog and is soon plotting ways to avoid the canine and his sharp teeth.
Retro illustrations (created with Adobe Illustrator) and the messy, farcical battle between Dog and Hocus Pocus give the story a cartoon-like feel. Hocus Pocus is great fun and will be enjoyed by children aged four and up.
Posted on November 9th, 2011 by Carolyn - Storytime Standouts
Chicken and Cat Clean Up written and illustrated by Sara Varon
If you have not yet enjoyed a wordless picture book with your child(ren), I would like to introduce you to this genre. “Reading” wordless picture books together with your child stimulates language development because the “reader” takes an active part in telling the story. Once you and your child have “read” the story from beginning to end hopefully your child will enjoy the opportunity to retell the tale – a key reading readiness skill. In Chicken and Cat Clean Up we follow the misadventures of two dissimilar friends who operate a housekeeping business. The bright, cheerful illustrations provide a fun account of operating a small buiness, an enduring friendship and how an opportunity for heroism might be just around the corner. Really good fun!
Posted on August 31st, 2011 by Carolyn - Storytime Standouts
Two of the components of a child’s reading readiness are his/her comprehension and interpretation. We can assist a preschool or kindergarten child with reading readiness by providing opportunities for him to read pictures and consider the sequence of events.
Reading pictures includes noticing what is in the picture, what the characters are doing, the weather or time of day and other details (i.e. the color of a character’s clothing). We would also like children to interpret the scene: what do you think the girl is saying? or why do you think the dragon is angry?
Wordless picture books are great tools for helping children to develop comprehension and interpretation skills. Sequencing activities also provide children the opportunity to ‘read’ pictures and determine the order of events.
Here are links to three sequencing activities from my website and three from elsewhere on the internet.
Building a Snowman Sequencing Please become a member of Storytime Standouts to download this file.
Posted on August 19th, 2011 by Carolyn - Storytime Standouts
Wordless picture books are great for encouraging language development in young children. These books usually tell a story, clearly depicting a series of events. Before attempting to tell a ’story’, children should be encouraged to look through the entire book and get a sense of what is about to happen and how the story ends. Many children delight in the discovery that there are no words to ‘read.’ This can make for an exciting role reversal as young children have an opportunity to ‘read’ the pictures and ‘tell’ the story to an adult or another child.
I am happy to introduce two new special wordless picture books… Once Upon a Banana written by Jennifer Armstrong and illustrated by David Small
In this (almost) wordless picture book, hilarious events are set in motion when a small monkey tosses a banana peel onto a sidewalk. Before long it would appear that the entire town is upset – dogs break loose, a cyclist goes flying, a grocery cart is upended and, oh no, look at that baby carriage! Terrific fun.
Flotsam created by David Wiesner
Here, we join a boy and his family as they spend a day at the beach. Clearly an enthusiastic scientist, he arrives equipped with binoculars, a magnifying glass and a microscope. As he searches for interesting ‘flotsam’, a huge wave crashes over him and leaves an old underwater camera just above the waterline. The boy races to a nearby shop and waits as the film is developed. When handed the photos, he can’t believe what they reveal. Flotsam is truly a ‘treasure chest’ of visual delights.
Storytime Standouts offers dozens of early literacy printables, All of the printables are in PDF format. Here is a sampling of our beach-related printables. Check the tab above for more resources.
Beach Picture Dictionary Please become a member of Storytime Standouts to download this file.
Interlined Paper - Sandcastle Please become a member of Storytime Standouts to download this file.
Posted on July 23rd, 2011 by Carolyn - Storytime Standouts
If you are spending your weekend at a beach, why not follow-up with a learning activity or two? We offer free printable PDFs for all sorts of occasions. This weekend, we want to highlight our Sandcastle interlined paper and our beach vocabulary printable. When used together, young writers will be inspired by the vocabulary and will feel confident when writing about a great day at the beach.
Beach Picture Dictionary Please become a member of Storytime Standouts to download this file.
Interlined Paper - Sandcastle Please become a member of Storytime Standouts to download this file.
If you’d like to see printables for a particular theme, let us know. Of course we would love to hear about how you use our beach-theme printables.
Highlighting a special “beachy” picture book…
Flotsam created by David Wiesner would be a wonderful follow-up to a day at the seashore.
In this wordless picture book, we join a boy and his family as they spend a day at the beach. Clearly an enthusiastic scientist, he arrives equipped with binoculars, a magnifying glass and a microscope. As he searches for interesting ‘flotsam’, a huge wave crashes over him and leaves an old underwater camera just above the waterline. The boy races to a nearby shop and waits as the film is developed. When handed the photos, he can’t believe what they reveal. Flotsam is truly a ‘treasure chest’ of visual delights.
Posted on May 30th, 2011 by Carolyn - Storytime Standouts
I love to let parents and teachers know about wordless and almost wordless picture books. This little-known and under-utilized genre can play an important role in nurturing young readers. Children who spend time with wordless picture books learn to “read” the illustrations and are encouraged to “figure out” the storyline for themselves. Wordless picture books are also great for multilingual families – they can be “read” and discussed in any language.
Time Flies – created by Eric Rohmann
Time Flies is a gorgeous Caldecott Honor Book. One evening, in the midst of a thunderous storm, a lone bird enters an empty museum through an open window. The shadowy museum is home to a collection of dinosaur skeletons. The daring bird swoops through the displays and they transition from bare bones dinosaur skeletons to much more realistic renditions. When the saucy bird becomes a tease, two very lethal jaws snap shut.
Wonderful for children four years and older, Time Flies will have special appeal for dinosaur fans.
Posted on May 1st, 2011 by Carolyn - Storytime Standouts
Those of us who “know” picture books are very familiar with the wordless and almost wordless variety. I’m not convinced, however, that “non bookies” are aware of the genre or that they understand the important role a wordless picture book can play in early literacy.
Wordless picture books “tell” a story using illustrations only. They encourage active participation and, as a result, are super for stimulating language development. Wordless picture books also move children and adults to a level playing field; a young child is equally able to “read” a well designed story because there are no words to be decoded. A wordless picture book is great for multiligual families because stories can be discussed in any language. Perhaps most importantly, wordless picture books provide a great platform for story retelling. A youngster who enjoys a wordless picture book with an adult, should be encouraged to retell the story, using his own words, to another adult – a great way to improve the child’s ability to retell a story and thus helping to prepare the child for formal reading instruction.
Every kindergarten and early primary classroom ought to be stocked with some wordless picture books. Here is a brand new title you will want to consider: A Ball for Daisy – created by Chris Raschka
Ever suffered the loss of favourite toy? Perhaps it was broken beyond repair? Daisy is an adorable little dog, oozing with personality. She loves her beautiful red ball. Daisy kicks it and bounces it and snuggles with it on the sofa. One day, while enjoying a walk, Daisy encounters a doggy friend who is too exuberent and accidentally punctures the red ball. Daisy is inconsolable; she can’t believe what she sees and she tries everything to make her red ball whole again. Unfortunately, the ball has been destroyed.
Thankfully, Daisy’s friend understand’s her distress and, when she next visits the park, a lovely new blue ball is waiting. Breezy, bright illustrations, perfect for sharing with a group, guide readers (and non “readers”) through A Ball for Daisy.
Updated January 2012 – A Ball for Daisy – created by Chris Raschka is the winner of the 2012 Randolph Caldecott Medal
Posted on February 28th, 2011 by Carolyn - Storytime Standouts
Where’s Walrus? – written and illustrated by Stephen Savage
Well-crafted wordless picture books are terrific for young readers. They provide opportunities for children to ‘read’ the illustrations and retell the story. They are also super for multilingual families – a grandparent who does not speak English can enjoy the story-sharing experience in any language.
Where’s Walrus? is a stylish, bold look at a daring escape from the city zoo. While most of the zoo animals and their keeper nap, a walrus decides it is time for fun. His first destination is just outside the zoo gates. He jumps into a large fountain and reclines next to a stone mermaid. With the keeper in hot pursuit, he shifts to a coffee shop, a store window and a construction site. Later, he helps a crew of firefighters and joins a dance team. Each time the walrus moves, he changes his head covering and manages to evade detection. Young children will enjoy “finding” the walrus while the zookeeper searches in vain. For older children, the absurdity of the premis will add to the humor.
Where’s Walrus? will be an excellent addition to a classroom zoo theme. Extension activities could include choosing new a head covering and ‘hiding’ Walrus somewhere new.
Regular readers of Storytime Standouts will know that I am a fan of wordless and almost wordless picture books. When an adult shares a wordless picture book with a child, the adult loses the “reading advantage.” In a wordless picture book, there are almost no words to read. The story is told through the illustrations so both adult and child can partner to “read” the story and decide what it is all about.
Hocus Pocus - story by Sylvie Desrosiers, illustrations by Rémy Simard
Building a Snowman Sequencing 
is a gorgeous Caldecott Honor Book. One evening, in the midst of a thunderous storm, a lone bird enters an empty museum through an open window. The shadowy museum is home to a collection of dinosaur skeletons. The daring bird swoops through the displays and they transition from bare bones dinosaur skeletons to much more realistic renditions. When the saucy bird becomes a tease, two very lethal jaws snap shut.
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is a stylish, bold look at a daring escape from the city zoo. While most of the zoo animals and their keeper nap, a walrus decides it is time for fun. His first destination is just outside the zoo gates. He jumps into a large fountain and reclines next to a stone mermaid. With the keeper in hot pursuit, he shifts to a coffee shop, a store window and a construction site. Later, he helps a crew of firefighters and joins a dance team. Each time the walrus moves, he changes his head covering and manages to evade detection. Young children will enjoy “finding” the walrus while the zookeeper searches in vain. For older children, the absurdity of the premis will add to the humor.
