RAISING LUMINARIES

Hi, I’m Ashia, founder & Head Custodian of Infodumpery for Raising Luminaries.

I create free tool kits to help overworked caregivers ignite the next generation of leaders.

ABOUT | MISSION | FINANCIALS | ACCOUNTABILITY

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

STAY IN TOUCH

Get free monthly email notifications when I publish new Family Action Toolkits

FREE STUFF

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

SHOP

Posts may contain affiliate links and  sponsorships, which allow me to earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

AFFILIATE POLICY

PARTNERS IN CAHOOTS

TOPICS

CONTACT

RECIPROCATE

Collaborate with Raising Luminaries on an issue important to you.

You’re welcome to share & boost this toolkit, with attribution to Raising Luminaries.

Subscribe For Toolkit Updates

Get monthly email updates when I add new resources to our Family Action Toolkits

RAISING LUMINARIES

Hi, I’m Ashia, founder & Head Custodian of Infodumpery for Raising Luminaries.

I create free tool kits to help overworked caregivers ignite the next generation of leaders.

ABOUT | MISSION | FINANCIALS | ACCOUNTABILITY

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

STAY IN TOUCH

Get free monthly email notifications when I publish new Family Action Toolkits

FREE STUFF

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

SHOP

Posts may contain affiliate links and  sponsorships, which allow me to earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

AFFILIATE POLICY

PARTNERS IN CAHOOTS

TOPICS

CONTACT

RECIPROCATE

Collaborate with Raising Luminaries on an issue important to you.

You’re welcome to share & boost this toolkit, with attribution to Raising Luminaries.

Home Book Collections Wordless Picture Books To Buy You A Few Minutes of Quiet

Wordless Picture Books To Buy You A Few Minutes of Quiet

via Ashia
Published: Last Updated on 14.4K views

[Image Description: Feature of an illustration within The Journey Trilogy, by Aaron Becker] The rest of the images in this post are book covers of titles referenced before the images.

Illustration-only picture books to foster independence in toddlers, preschoolers, and pre-reader

 


Raising Luminaries is free and accessible for readers who can’t afford a paywall. Posts may contain affiliate links, which allow me to earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Check out the full affiliate disclosure along with my statement of accountability. If you’re into supporting libraries (please do!) more than consumerism, you can also support my work directly:

Donate or shop using an affiliate link via| Paypal | Venmo | Ko-fi | Buy a t-shirt | Buy a book


Five minutes of quiet

Five minutes of quiet, alone time, with no one hanging on you, screaming in you ear, or demanding to be picked up.

Five minutes of peace and quiet in the car, without screams and demands.

Five minutes to lie down without diapers to change, spit-up to clean, or a toddler to entertain.

When you’re a stay-at-home parent, alone-time (specifically calm, quiet alone time) is precious. That’s the genius behind wordless picture books. Your toddler can read them alone!

How to get the most out of illustration-only picture books

  • Potty Training Bait:
    Having a bin of books my kids could read independently next to the potty was a sanity-saver. We used elimination-communication (basically, potty-training from birth), which means lots of hours, for years, hanging out with a baby/toddler on the potty, entertaining him and convincing him not to wander off and pee on the rug.
  • Anti-Screaming Travel Device:
    My first kid was a car-screamer, meaning he screamed non-stop for the first year he was in the car. Before he could use his hands, I’d have to drive with one hand on the wheel and the other twisted into the backseat so he could hold my finger. Once he was old enough to hold a book open, these distracted him for short periods and bought me precious quiet miles on the road.
  • Independence Trainer:
    My spirited son needs full, non-stop attention during all waking hours, so he was constantly asking me to read books to him. Sometimes, I just needed a break. Or to cook, do laundry, or close my eyes and re-evaluate my life choices for five minutes. Armed with a book without words, I was able to argue “You don’t need me to read this one to you – you can read it yourself!”
  • Sibling Facilitator:
    My boys are two years apart, and they get along well. But envy and jealousy pops up occasionally, and when that happens, it’s easy to redirect them and help them work as a team. They can ‘read’ books with no words to each other, or alongside one another as a break from arguing.

If you’re going to raise kind and brilliant little humans, they need to learn how to operate independently.

Independent non-word ‘reading’ is a great start to independent learning. Below, you’ll find the most engaging illustration-only books that I used to keep my marbles when I was stuck at home alone with one (and then two) small children.

 



Quiet Stories of Kindness & Cooperation

Sidewalk Flowers, Mr. Wuffles, The Girl And The Bicycle

 

 

 

invisible line

Snowman’s Story, I See You is little savior-y and not my thing, but it’s popular. Sigh.), South

 

 

 

 

Fox’s Garden (Caveat – the author also wrote ‘The Snow Rabbit’, which is ableist. But this one is okay.) I Walk With Vanessa, Boat of Dreamsinvisible line

 

 

 

invisible line

Brick by Brick


Big Adventures, Zero Words

The Journey Trilogy, Flotsam, The Umbrella, Sector 7, Little Fox In The Forest


Silent Friendships

The Flora Series, The Snow Rabbit, Bee & Me

 

 

 

 

invisible line

Red


Quiet Mini-Stories

Blue Chameleon, Float, Wonder Bear

 

 

 

 

 


Fantastical What-Ifs

Chalk, Fossil, Tuesday

 


Perennial Classics

The Red Book, Changes, Changes, The Carl Series

 


Busy  Busy Details

Welcome To the Zoo, Zoom

 

 

 


Surreal Silent Stories

Blue Rider



Stay Curious, Stand Brave & Take A Break

Support these resources via Paypal | Venmo | Ko-fi | Buy a t-shirt | Buy a book

 

 

You might also like:

Leave a Comment

*By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data in accordance with our privacy policy

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Stay Curious, Stand Brave & Smash The Kyriarchy

Raising Luminaries reduces the workload on overworked caregivers
igniting the next generation of kind & courageous leaders

family jumping on bed

Ashia (they/them or she/her)

I’m an Autistic, multiracial (Chinese/Irish) 2nd-generation settler raising two children alongside my partner on the homelands of the Wampanoag and Massachusett people. My goal with Raising Luminaries is to collaborate with families and educators in raising the next generation of kind & courageous leaders, so we can all smash the kyriarchy together.

Reciprocate & Contribute

Help me keep these resources free & accessible for all

IGNITION NOTES

Spark Family Conversations on Social Justice

Subscribe to the newsletter & get monthly guided family discussions & toolkit updates delivered via email.

RAISING LUMINARIES

Hi, I’m Ashia, founder & Head Custodian of Infodumpery for Raising Luminaries.

I create free tool kits to help overworked caregivers ignite the next generation of leaders.

ABOUT | MISSION | FINANCIALS | ACCOUNTABILITY

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

STAY IN TOUCH

Get free monthly email notifications when I publish new Family Action Toolkits

FREE STUFF

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

SHOP

Posts may contain affiliate links and  sponsorships, which allow me to earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

AFFILIATE POLICY

PARTNERS IN CAHOOTS

TOPICS

CONTACT

RECIPROCATE

Collaborate with Raising Luminaries on an issue important to you.

You’re welcome to share & boost this toolkit, with attribution to Raising Luminaries.

Raising Luminaries is anchored in the land of the Wampanoag & Massachusett People.
Support Wôpanâak early childhood education here.

©2023 Ashia Ray of Raising Luminaries™. All rights reserved.

This page may use affiliate referral links. We may earn a small commission if you choose to make an order using these links. Learn how we use affiliate links to support our community.

Photographs via Unsplash & Illustrations via Storyset, used with permission.

Raising Luminaries

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Accept Read More

Skip to content