Barbara Albert

A recent meeting of the Fredonia Shakespeare Club season was hosted by Gail Crowe at the home of Judi Lutz Woods. Barbara Albert presented her paper on “Wordless Comic Books.”

Her presentation noted “the need for wordless books and comic books in the development of some children’s reading parallels the history of the development of language throughout human evolution.  Cave paintings were the earliest form of written communication, with inclusion in tapestries, another, later form of wordless transfer of ideas.  Early written language was pictographs, or logographs, with a few strokes representing a full word in a single image, as in Asian calligraphy.   Later communicators used written shapes to represent sounds, which collectively could be reassembled into representations of how words are heard.    

“Some people think in pictures, mentally. … Others in words, narrated.   The ability to understand that books exist for the communication of ideas is presented neatly for pre-readers in the format of wordless books, where the pictures communicate the details of the narrative and the reader/readers use auditory language to follow the story.  

Although children can certainly ‘read’ these books themselves, When a wordless book is read by two people, the purpose of reading as communication is emphasized.  In some family literacy programs there is an emphasis on the role of illiterate parents participating in reading with children, enabling parents to model the importance of books and reading. 

“Many of the childrens’ wordless books are illustrated by well known artists in the illustration field, and have an important role in developing the pre-reading skills of children, while engaging their communication skills and encouraging the love of reading.  Shakespeare Club members were invited to read wordless books in pairs, and “read” the books to the members.    

“Comic books are a “next step” in the evolution of using illustrations to communicate the narrative.  Most comic book readers are generally old enough to be either readers or reading learners.  The illustrations in comic books support the written language, and may assist struggling readers with context, as well as assist those who “think in pictures” to become more fluent readers linguistically. 

“The comic book, historically, has been dismissed as somewhat  unimportant as literature, but has existed since the 1930s as a  source of reading, entertainment, and information. The authors and artists have gained respect  in recent years that they were not accorded initially … but many young readers saw comic books as bridges to being life-long readers.  Comic books are collected and loved by readers throughout the world, and have at times summarized more conventional books. 

“In conclusion, a love of reading can be fostered by exposure to wordless books and comic books, as well as by more conventional literature.”