This article last week from the Huffington Post, How Wordless Books Can Help Your Kid Learn to Read, got me thinking about my own journey to reading comprehension. Until I learned to read, my technique for convincing the cool kids (ie: my older sister and brother and their friends) I could read was, like many other children, to memorize. When I couldn't memorize the entire book, I would memorize the beginning, and then, when I got to the part I didn't have memorized, I'd ask my reading companion (usually my dad) to continue reading. The thing is, though, I truly believed I was reading. And it felt magical . . .
Until one fateful day, when my dear elder sister called my bluff. It's true — I probably wanted people to think I was a savvy reader. But I also probably didn't comprehend the difference between reading and being able to recite the words that I knew accompanied the images on the page. Regardless of whether I was reciting or reading, I'm now pretty confident that I was gaining literacy skills by reiterating the story from start to finish, and I was proud and excited to be thought of as a reader.
That's why I find wordless picture books so intriguing now. Even children who have not yet mastered reading — or even memorizing — comprehension, are able to pick up wordless picture books and follow the narrative arc from beginning to end. They're able to comprehend character development, and they're able to take pride in completing a book on their own.
There are plenty of fantastic wordless picture books out there. You can check out these wordless picture books from Capstone to get your little one started on the path to reading.
— Eliza Leahy
Associate Editor, Trade and Consumer
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