Wordless picture books are a great way to share the joy of reading with girls and boys who say they don’t like reading. Here are three exceptionally powerful wordless picture books to share with your struggling reader. The inviting illustrations and wide-open plots will draw in even the most reluctant reader.

The Umbrella by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert

In The Umbrella, each page spread is an entire adventure. Each illustration shows a different life experience, for example danger, wonder, or adventure. The left side of the page starts where the page before left off. The view is from a different perspective, but the continuity is very clear. The right side of the page leads to the next page turn. This structure helps beginner readers understand a fundamental concept in plotting: the action in a story comes from somewhere and goes somewhere else.

In this story, the action comes full circle when the dog who had been on the adventure returns home … and the cat (who never left home) eagerly approaches the catalyst that started the whole story (the umbrella, of course).

This book was published in 2010 in Rotterdam, so it might not be super easy to find in a store in the United States. But that’s what libraries are for! If you can’t find it on your local library’s shelves, ask your librarian, they may be able to borrow it from an affiliate library for you.

The Other Side by Istvan Banyi

Like The Umbrella, in The Other Side, each illustrated spread references the one that follows.  The relationship between the pictures in The Other Side, however, is a lot more loose and tangential. This means the reader is free to use a big dose of creativity in trying to string the scenes together to make a cohesive plot. Or not.

There’s no rule that each spread must be presented in a logical narrative. But then again, maybe there is such a rule? Our minds somehow want to piece together a coherent story.

This book allows each reader to be an active participant in making meaning. In one image, a child and a dog appear among long, narrow tree trunks. The next picture shows a child and a cat looking at a tiger in a zoo. There’s a visual connection between the tree trunks and the bars of the zoo cage, which makes it impossible not to make a conceptual connection between the two scenes. Is there supposed to be a parallel?

The images here are mostly black and white with splashes of color. But even the color seems to be tempting the reader to make a connection… first a yellow chick, then a yellow tennis ball, then a yellow taxi… are they linked? It’s up to the reader to decide.

This is a deeply thought-provoking picture book by Hungarian-born illustrator, Istvan Banyi.

Museum Trip by Barbara Lehman

Barbara Lehman’s wordless picture books follow a more linear, traditional plot structure compared to the two titles mentioned above. In that way Lehman’s books can demonstrate conventional storytelling.

Lehman specializes in wordless books so she offers several to choose from. One of my favorites is Museum Trip. In this story, a boy gets separated from his class on a field trip to a museum and finds himself in a room where mazes are displayed. He immerses himself in the maze imagery, which is one of the reasons I love this book.

The readers can follow the mazes with their finger and their gaze here just as they can in my book, The Book No One Wants To Read. At minimum, a reluctant reader can linger over these pages, wandering back and forth trying various routes to the center or outer exit. Also in this straightforward story, there’s a happy ending and miniature versions of artworks by actual fine art masters including Picasso, Van Gogh and, well, go get the book and see for yourself!

The maze spread in Beth Bacon’s “The Book No One Wants To Read.”