ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a selection of works which demonstrate that there are so many types of wordless picturebooks that they should not be considered a 'genre.' As Sandra Beckett points out, wordless picturebooks have become a contemporary publishing trend with several newly created wordless picturebook series and some highly acclaimed author-illustrators working exclusively in this genre. Wordless and almost-wordless adaptations are essentially graphic versions of pre-existing fictional stories. A very unusual source for wordless and almost-wordless picturebook re-creations is film. Most fictional wordless picturebooks are adventure stories. The main characters have to overcome various obstacles to achieve their goals. Original wordless picturebooks are those picturebooks that present stories which are not based on a pre-existing text. Wordless picturebooks focusing on showing have a 'documentary' appeal in the sense that they concentrate on the narrative depiction of everyday life situations, landscapes and cityscapes, and the explanation of concepts.
