This series of four wordless graphic novels for pre-schoolers is a fantastic set for those who are new to wordless books. Each story starts off with a page visually explaining how to read through the panels in the right order, so that the story makes sense. The conclusion of each story has illustrated discussion questions. These help adults check that readers have understood what is happening in the story and get them to think beyond the pictures. This is an excellent aid for teachers and parents to introduce their little ones to the world of not only wordless graphic novels but to comics in general.
This series has four separate books in it. Each book has unique characters and stories, so you do not need to purchase all four to make sense of what is happening. You could just enjoy one.
Benny on the Beach
Young Benny isn’t sure about playing at the beach, until he starts to make some new friends. A little crab helps him come out of his shell, so to speak, and opens up his eyes to all the exciting adventures you can have in the sand and ocean. When Benny digs up a woolly mammoth, the story really kicks off. Together they learn that clearly woolly mammoths can’t do everything that humans can do. Playing with a beach ball or trying out boogie boarding quickly result in disaster. This story is fun while providing a message about keeping natural bodies of water clean and free from trash.
Poppy and Tito
Poppy and Tito live happily together in a whimsical tree house. They do everything with each other until one day, when they get into a silly argument while playing in a nearby pond. This sends Poppy running, and Tito on an adventure to find him. He runs into all kinds of different animals, and even some dangerous situations on his hunt for Poppy.
Coco the Crocodile
Bunny lives in a black and white world until Coco the Crocodile flies into it, literally. Follow Coco and Bunny’s incredible adventure as they journey through magical rainbows, to busy cities, to star-filled night skies.
Dino and Pablo’s Prehistoric Games
Our main character, a little boy named Pablo, loves using Dino as a slide. That is until Dino accidentally sends him flying with the birds. He is taken on a wild ride across the jungle, off a cliff, and even underwater.
The artwork throughout this series is similar in that they have chosen the same fonts and style for the covers and introductory and concluding pages. In the stories themselves, each book has a unique illustrator. You can see that each artist has been able to exercise their own creative styles. Pages are filled with simple color schemes that are pleasing to the eye. Along with these colors, we have images that are full of details and beautiful backgrounds that give readers much to visually explore.
This series of four wordless graphic novels is a fun set to add to any collection. They have easy-to-follow stories with relatable characters and lots of added humor. As with all wordless books, these stories provide easy access for children to enjoy “reading” without any barriers to understanding what is going on. This series could be used as a stepping stone in learning how to follow along with a story and most importantly to have fun while doing it. These books certainly promote a love of reading, which is crucial to setting up kids for lifelong success in literacy.
I recommend these titles for educators and parents to enjoy with little ones as they are nicely set up with a simple instruction page to start you off, humorous, easy-to-follow stories, and concluding questions to check comprehension of the plot and character’s feelings. These are the kinds of books that make it easy to help young readers have reading success.
Wordless Graphic Novels series
Benny on the Beach
By Ed
Art by Diego Arandojo
ISBN: 9781515861362
Poppy and Tito
By Mathilde Domecq
ISBN: 9781515861379
Coco the Crocodile
By Ankh
ISBN: 9781515861386
Dino and Pablo’s Prehistoric Games
By Baptiste Amsallem
Art by Loic Dauvillier
ISBN: 9781515861393
Capstone, 2020
Publisher Age Rating: 5-7
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NFNT Age Recommendation: Picture Books (3-8)
