What is Wimmelbuch and why not only children will like it

Wimmelbuch means "illustrated puzzle book" in German. It has very little text, and sometimes none at all. Each spread of Wimmelbuch is a large colorful image, which consists of the smallest fragments, heroes, phenomena and many storylines.

The genre is considered appearedWhat Adults Can Learn From Dutch Children's Books / The New York Times thanks to the Flemish artists Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel, Sr., known for his detailed paintings. Their work inspired the German illustrator Ali Mitguch to create wimmelbuchs. First book for children came outAli Mitgutsch, Inventive Children’s Book Illustrator, Dies at 86 / The New York Times in 1968 and was called "Around my city". It described scenes from everyday life in Munich. Children and adults enjoyed watching rather than reading so much that the genre took root and remains popular to this day.

Why picture books are useful

Wimmelbuchs help develop child's speech

. While parents talk about what is happening on the pages, he memorizes new words and learns to build sentences. Such books are useful for training attention, logical thinking and imagination. "Reading" can be interrupted by involving tasks. For example, ask the child to find a certain character in the picture or count the number of objects of the same color.

Despite the lack of text, any Wimmelbuch is a long-running book. It lacks a single plot. Looking at the bright spreads, you can compose as many stories as your imagination allows. Learning Wimmelbuch is more like a game, so it's a great way to spend time with the whole family.

How to "read" Wimmelbuch

This book gives you plenty of room to let your imagination run wild. You can just look at colorful stories without going into details, or you can arrange story competitions, complete tasks for a while, and even learn a foreign tongue with the help of Wimmelbuch. Try to fill leisure time with meaning, focusing on the age and abilities of the child.

With children under 1 year old

Usually by 6–At 9 months old, the child can already concentrate on the picture for several minutes, while the adult tells where the cat is or where the horse is running. At this age, the main emphasis can be placed on learning new words. Like today you show and call animals, tomorrow - transport, the day after tomorrow - plants and so on. Try not to overwork your child. If he is tired and no longer wants to look at the pictures, return to the game after a couple of days.

With children from 1 to 3 years old

At this age, you can not only learn words, but also fill speech with new meanings. Tell about the shape and color of objects, explain the actions of the heroes, create simple logical chains. For example, “It started raining, so everyone took out umbrellas”, “The bike broke down, dad is fixing it”, “Grandma goes to the store to buy milk.”

This will help the child learn to understand cause-and-effect relationships and spur his interest in exploring the world around him. Inquisitive children will ask a lot of questions to their parents. Do not dismiss them and try to find answers to all the remarks like “Why sky is blueand the forest is green?

With children from 3 years old

Gradually increase the amount of information: write long stories about the characters in the book, make sentences detailed. Talk about the emotions of the characters, describe the weather or natural phenomena. Growing up, the child is more involved in the process. Ask him questions, ask him to come up with his own story, discuss what is happening - in general, turn the game into a discussion.

By the way, at this age, you can teach your child to count. Start simple. For example, help to find out how many trees are on the page. Over time, it will be possible to proceed to more complex tasks: “There are two cows and three ducks in the picture. How many birds do you see in total? Skills can also be trained after playing with the Wimmelbuch, for example, while walking, counting drakes in a pond or pigeons on playground.

How to create your Wimmelbuch

Together with the child, you can make a puzzle picture with your own hands. Find a topic that interests him and make a background. You can draw a map of the starry sky on a Whatman paper or print a finished forest landscape. The necessary characters and objects can be found on the pages of old magazines - cut out everything you like with your child and stick it on the blank. The result is your unique Wimmelbuch, which you can work with just like with a book from a printing house.