William Patrick Martin - Wonderfully Wordless: The 500 Most Recommended Graphic Novels and Picture Books

Praise for Wonderfully Wordless

Martins book captures the rich diversity and international flavor of sequential art in all its forms. It is the definitive guide to the wordless novel. Stefan Berg, graphic novelist and author of Let That Bad Air Out

Wordless books are wonderful in that they encourage creativity, imagination, and visual understanding. All of these are indispensable for human development but have been neglected in our society. This book will make it easier to find these beneficial books and reap their benefits. It is the fruit of patient research. But if you read the list of categories, which feels like a poem, you will find that there is a lot of heart in this book, too. For me this is important. Giora Carmi, art therapist and author of The Basis of Psychotherapy through Art

Wonderfully Wordless is truly wonderfulthis comprehensive survey documents the variety and nuance of visual language employed by artists across decades and around the globe. Mary DePalma, author of Bow, Wow Wiggle-Waggle , a Bank Street College of Education Best Book

Comprehensive, concise, and engaging, a great handbook for anyone interested in the art of telling stories with pictures. It is the only book of its kind and long overdue! Rebecca Dudley, author of Hank Has a Dream

William Martin has done an astounding job in gathering wordless book titles that he has meticulously classified into themes that would make any teacher or parentor avid reader for that matterfind something that would be of interest to them at specific points in their lives: be it for babies, tweens, adolescents, or adults. This is a definitive resource of wordless graphic novels and picture books painstakingly organized into themes such as acts of kindness, creative journeys, fabulous friendships, weird encounters, edifying exploits, and marvelous mysteries, just to name a few. This is a labor of love, indeed, and as an avid bibliophile fascinated with visual literacy and the many wonders that wordless books have to offer, I would make it one of my lifes mission as a reader to find the book titles that he has included here. Bacsal Rhoda Myra Garces, assistant professor and coordinator of high-ability studies and gifted education at the National Institute of Education, Singapore

Wonderfully Wordless is a comprehensive and timely resource for educators and speech language pathologists who are working with children and adolescents. It will definitely be listed as a resource on my syllabi addressing intervention for children with language delays and disorders. Sandra Gillam, professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education at Utah State University

What began on cave walls nearly 50,000 years ago continues today on pages and screensvisual storytellers leading our eye from panel to panel and page to page, driven by that ever-burning question of a good story: And then what happened? How wonderful to have as knowledgeable and insightful a guide as Bill Martin leading us into these modern caves to point out many a hidden room and vast stores of forgotten treasure. Jamichael Henterly, teacher of illustration and drawing at Western Washington University

Dr. Martins Wonderfully Wordless does an amazing job of organizing and distilling a wide variety of wordless graphic novels and picture books into useful categories to help us find those that are most worthy of reading. Overall, its a great list of recommended titles and includes many remarkable wordless book creators from Lynd Ward and Tana Hoban to Shaun Tan. Lita Judge, author of Good Morning to Me!

All the words youll ever need to find that perfectly wordless read. Stephen Michael King, award-winning author of Bellas Bad Hair Day

This is an invaluable guide to the entire range of picture stories for all ages. If youre a fan of wordless books or if you are just discovering this vital art form, William Martins Wonderfully Wordless is an essential roadmap to this silent universe. Peter Kuper, illustrator of Mad magazines Spy vs. Spy comic strip and lecturer at Harvard University

Wonderfully Wordless is an awe-inspiring sourcebook! By gathering 500 of the greatest achievements in this fascinating art form, William Martin places nearly a century of ideas and information within your grasp. If you love picture books, you should own and read this book. Jeff Mack, illustrator of Hurry! Hurry! , a School Library Journal Best Book

It is with huge enthusiasm that I welcome William Patrick Martins compendium, Wonderfully Wordless: The 500 Most Recommended Graphic Novels and Picture Books . At last an authoritative list, gathered from all over the world, appealing to all ages and all tastes, a formal and useful recognition that these kinds of books deserve a category of their own. I am particularly charmed by the titles of the categories Martin uses, thirty-two in all: Acts of Kindness, Lost and Found, Dreamy Departures, and Concepts Galore are a few that appeal particularly to me.... This is a perceptive list full of unusual and wonderful books, and I for one will be clearing my bookshelves to make space for some exciting new titles I had not known about before. Domenica More-Gordon, author of Archie and Archies Vacation

Wonderfully Wordless is a fantastic book. I had no idea there were so many wordless picture books out there, let alone great ones. Martin has provided a valuable resource to readers everywhere. Josh Simmons, author of the graphic novels The Furry Trap and Black River

More than a mere list, this informative, well-organized compilation of illustration-only titles provides a curiosity igniting spark that will no doubt lead to multiple excursions to my local library and bookstore! Brad Sneed, author of Picture a Letter

William Martin should not only be excused for using an abundance of words in Wonderfully Wordless , he should be applauded. His expansive, insightful, and ambitious survey of the 500 most recommended wordless graphic novels and picture books is an indispensable resource for librarians, educators, and parents who value exposing children to an endlessly ethereal world of rich stories dependent not on objective text but on evocative imagery. Bravo. Bob Staake, author of Bluebird

The aptly named Wonderfully Wordless , with its concise descriptions and thoughtful selections, will be an indispensable resource to all collectors and scholars who appreciate visual storytelling and want to dig a little deeper into this graphic tradition. The accessible nature of the visual narrative has an innate appeal for many different types of students. This book provides an excellent resource encompassing everything from essential xylographic novels to board books. George A. Walker, graphic novelist and professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design

Wonderfully Wordless

The 500 Most Recommended Graphic Novels and Picture Books

William Patrick Martin

Rowman & Littlefield

Lanham Boulder New York London

Published by Rowman & Littlefield

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Copyright 2015 by Rowman & Littlefield

All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Martin, William P. (William Patrick)

Wonderfully wordless : the 500 most recommended graphic novels and picture books / William Patrick Martin.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.