In 2016 we are adding a new genre to the book palette! WORD-FREE books. These are books that can be read by proficient and poor readers alike, but that give those less proficient in the 6-9 target group that special feeling of finally having read a whole book. On their own!

The word-free books do not contain a single word, but are read by following the illustrations, discovering details, patterns, feelings, action – solely by concentrating on the visual aspect. A skill our youngest readers often possess.

The word-free books aim for the target group that ought to be able to read, but needs a reading experience that motivates and inspires them – and does not exclude them from the literary universe. Of course it’s possible to read a whole book without having the traditional understanding of reading completely under one’s belt!

To tell a story without using words is an extremely demanding exercise. We have therefore asked some of the best visual story-tellers in Norway to do it.

It sure isn’t nice when your dad would rather display the trophy from his last golf tournament on the mantel piece instead of the nice photograph you took of the two of you together last year. And it isn’t nice when you suggest that your dog can guard the house, and your dad only laughs and hires a Schäfer dog to do the job. But what are you to do when the Schäfer turns out to be a part of a scary gang of trophy-thieves?

«A successful start to a new series of wordfree picture books ... This works, the books do not look like books for the youngest children, and neither are they. It is nice to see that the publisher chooses the very best of the picture book artists to make these books. It is a demanding task to tell a story without words, but Kanstad Johnsen and Kjølberg have succeeded with flying colors. We want more!»
Anne Schäffer, Barnebokkritikk.no

Kristoffer Kjølberg

Publications