As librarians and book lovers, we’re always thinking about the power of printed words. The magic of books is centered on the experience readers have when they engage with text. Illustrations can be seen as in service to the words yet often create a whole that is far more than two discrete elements. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the importance and power of words cannot be overstated. We found three books that prove this to be true, among them, Jonah Winter’s The Burning of Books, which is astonishing but also terrifyingly timely.

For children who are preliterate, struggle with reading, or engage strongly with visuals, wordless books invite them into the story solely through pictures. These offer a thrilling opportunity to exercise and gain confidence in reading skills, including those of context.

Last year was a wonderful year for wordless picture books, such as 2025 Best Book A Place for Us by James Ransome that shines a light on a boy and his mother who are unhoused. We highlight two 2025 titles here, including Marta Bartolj’s sunny meditation on the power of compassion in Finding Forgiveness, and Bruce Handy’s Balloon, which is just as masterly as the French cinema classic, The Red Balloon.

The books in 2026 are just as promising.
 

With Words

Francis, Sangma. Wildspeak. illus. by Lexi Vangsnes. 40p. Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky. Apr. 2026. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781464261299.
K-Gr 3–“In the wide, wide world with its wide, wide, skies, there are wild, wild words waiting to be spoken.” With these words two girls, Ada and Cora, both with dark hair and brown skin, set off on an adventure to collect words from nature. They gather words like sunglitter, which means the scatter of light off water, and they also make up new words, such as bottomshimmer and airdancers. Illustrations, done in watercolor, pastels, highlighters, and collage, capture the variety of the natural world the girls encounter with beautiful colors, wide skies, dappled forest interiors, and intimate moments in tide pools. Eventually, they return home where they gather words and images that accompany the trip into a journal. Back matter includes a glossary. VERDICT Lovers of nature and language will be inspired by this inventive foray into word creation that allows children to play with language in new ways.

Messier, Mireille. How to Read a Very Serious Book. illus. by Kelly Collier. 32p. 32p. Owlkids. Mar. 2026. Tr $18.95. ISBN 9781771476584.
Gr 1-4–Two readers are oh-so-serious about their reading and want to make sure everyone around them knows that. With perfect style and pomposity, two young people (a boy with dark skin and a girl with lighter skin) make quite a spectacle of their “serious” reading. An off-page narrator engages the two children in a discussion of their delight in reading such serious tomes. Small text, no pictures, and large books are the hallmark of a serious reader—or so readers of this book are led to believe. The narrator points out serious reading flair with the two children engaging in “pondering” faces and turning pages with flourish. As readers progress through the panels of dialogue and illustrations that capture the tongue-in-cheek humor, they will find boon companions in the stars of this book. By the end, the truth is revealed, and the children are found to be seriously enjoying graphic novels and so is the narrator. Addressing the topic of what counts as reading with a generous sense of fun amid the seriousness, this title will be very useful in classrooms and libraries hoping to engage all readers in whatever form of reading best suits them. VERDICT A meta look at the acts of reading, pretend, and finding a way to identity, this book works for children across a span of grade levels.

Winter, Jonah. The Burning of the Books. illus. by Gary Kelley. 32p. Creative Eds. Mar. 2026. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781568464114.
Gr 4 Up–Historical details and a call to action today, this title, using Cubist/Geometric influences for haunting illustrations, tells the history of books in Germany. Beginning with the revolutionary Gutenberg Bible, the book covers the culture of Germany that welcomed deep and wide reading for centuries. With the rise of Hitler, authors and titles were questioned for being contrary to the goals of the Third Reich. Titles were pulled from shelves of libraries and bookstores. On May 10, 1933, students from the Nazi German Student Association coordinated the burning of books across the country. By the end of World War II, it’s possible that over 100 million books were destroyed. The chilling story leads readers to the outcome of banning and its implications for our world today. VERDICT Clear text calling for an aware citizenry to protect the printed work paired with powerful illustrations, this title deserves to be read and discussed well into high school classrooms and beyond.

Without Words

Bartolj, Marta. Finding Forgiveness. illus. by Marta Bartolj. 72p. Chronicle. Mar. 2025. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781797223964.
K-Gr 4–Bartolj returns to the emotional lives of children with a story of forgiveness. When his friend accidentally sets his pet bird free, a boy has no time for her pleas of forgiveness as he goes off in search of his pet. Along the way, he sees other interactions where people are in conflict yet seemingly able to find forgiveness relatively quickly. Only when he crashes into his father and breaks his favorite mug are the roles reversed, and he comes to realize how important it is to forgive. The wordless quality of this title opens the door for young people to fill in the dialogue and rehearse the act of asking for, and offering, forgiveness. The illustrations in pencil, ink, acrylic, and watercolor are highlighted with the use of blue to great effect. VERDICT Highly useful for engaging children in social-emotional discussions, this wordless title on a topic central to the lives of children is useful in all collections.

Fong, Pam. Claire and the Cathedral. illus. by Pam Fong. 40p. Greenwillow. Apr. 2026. Tr $19.99. ISBN 9780063360006.
K-Gr 5–Claire is in search of color, be it in art, music, or a rain puddle. She and her mother make their way to the entrance of the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris. The cathedral, beautifully illustrated in soaring lines that seem to reach for the heavens, fascinates but also bores Claire. She’s far more interested in the musician out in front whose music brings color onto the scene. She finds herself mesmerized by the light that pours through the stained-glass windows and immerses her in color. She delights in the playfulness until a rainstorm steals the color away. Undaunted, she continues to search for the joy she experienced and eventually finds it in her surroundings and within herself. The illustrations, done in watercolors compiled digitally, are stunning with their ability to capture the awe-inspiring architecture of Notre-Dame while also centering Claire’s emotional journey. The spare use of color has a poetic effect and adds great drama to the narrative. VERDICT A wonderful wordless picture book that will inspire readers to search for the things that add color to their lives.

Handy, Bruce. Balloon. illus. by Julie Kwon. 44p. Chronicle. Oct. 2025. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781797215044.
PreS-K–A young child and a balloon is a pairing that is both an age-old delight and opportunity for sheer agony. A Black child is thrilled to have been given an orange balloon by his mother as they walk through the park. He utters the only word repeated throughout with utter joy: Balloon! Tragedy strikes as a flock of pigeons startle the boy and the balloon escapes his grip. As they make their way through the park, the boy thinks he spies the balloon several times; but in reality, he sees round, or seemingly round, orange objects, such as a frisbee and a motorcycle helmet. The orange objects appear partially obscured on one page and are then revealed after the page turn. After mistaking multiple objects for his balloon, they leave the park and come upon one final glimpse of something round and orange. It turns out to be the rounded back of a small kitten at an animal adoption event, and the young child promptly chooses the cat and names it Balloon. The illustrations, rendered in pen and ink with digital color, focus on the action through the busy park and streets of New York City while maintaining an emotional tone of loss. The final spread shows a satisfied boy and kitten asleep in bed with moonlight illuminating the newly bonded pair. VERDICT A heartwarming tale that will thoroughly engage readers and leave them completely satisfied at the its conclusion.

Harris, Phyllis. Claude. illus. by Phyllis Harris. 32p. Familius. May 2026. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9798893960495.
PreS-Gr 3–This tale of creation and the power of play will delight readers. A young artist approaches her easel with the inspiration of Claude Monet’s painting Poppy Field Near Vetheuil firmly fixed in her mind. Her adorable puppy has other ideas. Despite his best efforts to lure her away from her creation, the puppy resorts to more energetic play until disaster strikes, and paint and paw prints are everywhere. Upon reflection, the friends have not ruined the creation; they have found that it is unexpectedly complete. Illustrations feature black outlines of the girl and the puppy on a crisp white background, with the only color her red beret as well as the paints and painting in progress. Energy and emotion leap off the page, and readers will feel her frustration in the creative process as well as the puppy’s desire for fun. The final joint project is an absolute joy to behold. VERDICT A lovely introduction to the challenges of the creative process, Monet, and the joys of having a young pet, this is highly recommended for all collections; it’s an outstanding example of the power of a wordless picture book.

Sterer, Gideon. The Dream. illus. by Nik Henderson. 88p. HarperCollins/Clarion. Feb. 2026. Tr $19.99. ISBN 9780063357990.
Gr 1-5–A girl is called to action after a powerful encounter with nature. The opening illustrations feature belching factories filling the pages with smoke that transforms on the next spread to the clouds of a dream. Traveling home, a young girl looks out the car window to see a blighted landscape due to humankind’s environmental transgressions, from littering to waste-spewing factories. After she returns to her wooded home, she has an encounter with a wolf that leads to a magical experience with animals of all sorts who join to speak out en masse for the protection of their habitats. Their actions inspire the girl to gather other concerned humans into a communal force that demands, along with the animals, that we do better for the sake of us all. The details in the illustrations, done in graphite with digital painting, capture the devastation of the natural world due to factories, deforestation, and industrial farming, juxtaposing it with the power and majesty of nature. The dream blends with reality in such a way that readers will long be discussing where one stops and the other begins. More importantly, children will have witnessed the call to act for the survival of our planet. VERDICT A rallying cry for young people to demand environmental protection with detailed magical illustrations through which the message is powerfully embedded.

John Scott is a library media specialist at Powhatan Elementary School in Baltimore County, MD. He has served on Newbery and Caldecott Committees and is active with the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.