I find it extremely sad that there are still many people who don’t believe that wordless picture books and graphic novels have any use or validity with children in or outside of school. In the Graphic Novels for (Really) Young Readers article, it sort of discusses the case for having graphic novels available to young children, especially those just learning to read, and I wholeheartedly agree! Now, obviously, I don’t teach young children or have any of my own, and I can see where people could say that there are some negative factors involved, but how could people not see the benefit? I’ve actually had my own students write stories and responses to art, and they come up with some of their most brilliant writing when pictures are involved. I know this isn’t exactly the same thing, but it comes from the same place inside, and I think it really deals with some of the same issues of motivation and creativity of kids at any age. In reading a graphic novel or wordless picture book, children create the words in their minds as they form the story, as Bryonna, the little girl in this article, discusses. They are able to build an understanding of story structure this way, as well as develop knowledge about character development, conflict, etc. Also, the way the child’s mind must process what they are seeing or reading in books like Owly allows them to build understanding of HOW to comprehend what they read. And, just like the way I’ve used picture books or just pictures or artwork, children of any age can use the images as inspiration to create their own written stories that will then model their understanding of plot structure, character development, etc. I think it’s brilliant! 
Oh, and I loved Owly! What a cute book and a great story! I think my favorite thing about the way it’s written/drawn is the use of the voice and thought bubbles with pictures and punctuation marks to show what the characters might be saying or thinking. What a great idea!
Owly and Graphic Novels for (Really) Young Readers November 18, 2008
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I think these wordless books really help to capture the kids attention. One of my students is constantly out of his seat, talking and off task. This week he picked out a wordless picture book from the library and I did not have to call out his name one time during silent reading. He was completely engulfed in his book and never took his attention off of it.