Books Beyond Words

Resource type: Books, ebooks and audiobooks, School book supplier or specialist publisher

Price band: £

Key stage: KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5

Region(s): All of UK

Books Beyond Words are award-winning, wordless picture books covering topics such as physical and mental health, lifestyle and relationships, trauma, and grief.

The books are designed to be used with adults and children who find pictures easier to understand than words. This includes people with learning disabilities, people with cognitive or communication difficulties, and EAL students.

In schools, the books can also be used as an accessible and flexible communication tool to support the SEMH curriculum. Research carried out in the Open Book Project demonstrated that the wordless picture books helped to:

Empower young people to take control of their feelings and behaviours.
Build pupils’ emotional repertoire, insight and empathy.
Broaden pupils’ vocabulary and language skills.

Books are available to buy singly or as themed packs.

Cost: £10 per book. Pack prices vary.

About Beyond Words: Books Beyond Words was founded in 1989 by Baroness Hollins, then Professor of Psychiatry of Disability at St George’s Hospital Medical School. It is now an award-winning independent charitable publisher with a list of over 60 titles.

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Find out more about how to use Books Beyond Words in your school to create a safe space where children and young people can develop the emotional vocabulary required to express their emotions and talk about their fears and worries.
A set of e-learning courses with accompanying resources that explore how to use the Books Beyond Words series to support the SEMH curriculum is available.
The BW Story App brings together 1800+ pictures and 400 short stories taken from the Books Beyond Words series in one, easily accessible place to provide a convenient, mobile library of resources to aid communication.