Wimmelbuch: what is it, description, features and types

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

Everyone who has children must have heard this unusual word for the Russian ear. But not everyone knows that a wimmelbuch is a kind of book that consists either entirely or almost entirely of pictures. At the same time, they are usually quite expensive. If you purchase them and use them incorrectly, you will get the impression that this is money thrown to the wind. But if you take "reading" seriously, you can become their next fan.

Wimmelbuch - what is it?

The name comes from the German phrase Wimmel buch, which literally translates as "a book with flickering pictures." And the name is given because there are an unimaginably many heroes on the pages of the Wimmelbuchs, each of which is busy with something of his own, and at first such a variety simply flickers in the eyes.

Usually these are thematic books, consisting of a couple of dozen sheets of thick cardboard. They either have no words at all, or fluent descriptions to start a flight of fancy. Often used the technique of "house incut" as such a kind of "human anthill". There are at least 20 heroes on each spread, whose fate can be followed throughout the book.

Let's say on the first turn we see a family going somewhere, on the next turn the family is already at the parade and standing at the elevator, on the next turn we are getting into a taxi and so on. Parallel to this storyline, dozens more unfold on the pages. Moreover, at the first “reading”, not all of them will certainly be noticed. Wimmelbuch can be read differently each time, and by giving freedom to the flight of a child's imagination, you can get a completely new version of the interpretation of the plot.

Where did this kind of books come from

Wimmelbuch was first illustrated by the German artist Ali Mitgush about 40 years ago. The idea to create such a book came to him after a trip around the world. Trying to collect all the impressions, he was inspired by the work of German engravers of the 17th century and realized that he could do this as accurately as possible not with words, but with many sketches. And then, looking at these pictures, anyone can interpret them in their own way.

From under his pen came such Wimmelbuchs as "In the Village", "Pirate Book", "Ships", "Wheel" and others. Books immediately won the love of German children and their parents. And then they spread throughout Europe, and then the whole world.

Ali Mitgush's Wimmelbukhs are still relevant and published in Russia by the Melik-Pashaev publishing house.

What is the benefit of

Wimmelbuch immediately fell in love with speech therapists-defectologists. After all, working with them, and “reading” them, although pleasant, but full-fledged work, makes an invaluable contribution to the development of the speech of non-speaking children.

First, a parent or a speech therapist examines a book with a child, and then gradually begins to involve the child in her world, introduces the characters, voices what each of them is doing, fantasizes. And then, when the child is drawn in with interest, you can use interrogative intonations to invite him to also participate in creating stories. When looking at these pictures, the child has a strong desire to tell what he sees, to show that he is able to understand and discuss all this, and this acts as a stimulant on the speech center.

For children who have already begun to actively talk, "reading" Wimmelbuchs will help in enriching vocabulary. Indeed, in the process, the child will have dozens of questions that will open up many new words and concepts to him. Enriching vocabulary will not hurt even ten-year-olds.

The ability to notice the smallest details will imperceptibly spread to other areas of life. It will be a pleasant surprise for mom when the child begins to notice the smallest details on walks, begins to fantasize about where the man is running, who has rushed past, who this girl is waiting for on the bench, looking into the distance.

And, of course, the joint pastime of parents and children is priceless, and Wimmelbuchs, of course, encourage this. After all, even if the child begins to look at the book at first alone, he will definitely have a desire to ask aboutmany things, and he will find an adult. You can connect all family members, each add something of their own to the story. And this promises long and cozy evenings with the family.

Speech centers are actively stimulated, fantasy develops, the ability to build logical connections, build analysis, and all this - in a playful way. A love of books is instilled, and in the age of electronic technology, this is so important. After all, it is books that make us smarter in the truest sense of the word. Truly, Wimmelbuch is a book of genius.

How to read

Reasonable question, how to read a book to a child if there are no words. The answer, like everything ingenious, is simple - turn on the fantasy. If you look closely, all these small drawings on the pages of Wimmelbuchs are not accidental, these are all small stories. And these stories can be endlessly told or invented with the child. On each subsequent page, these stories continue. And if this is a Wimmelbuch from the series, then the characters will appear in every book in the series. And it will be a real meeting with an old acquaintance who will definitely have something new.

You can say that this is a fairy tale invented on the spot. The reader has the power to independently evaluate the characters, make them good or bad, dream up what they think about and what brings them to this particular place.

Before reading with your child, it's a good idea to look at the end of the Wimmelbuch to get acquainted with the life of the characters, and to know in what direction you can lead the conversation about a particular character. Otherwise, having come up with a continuation, turning the page, you can see somethingradically different, and then it will be problematic to steer the story in the right direction.

At first, you can just ask the child to point his finger at what he is interested in the picture. Based on this, questions may already be born. Each subsequent question will develop the story and fuel the conversation. Then each hero needs to be given names, try to reconstruct his life outside this picture, and then, having met him further, find out how the idea coincided with reality.

Of course, you can consider Wimmelbuch just like an ordinary picture book, but you won’t reveal its full potential in this way. But even such “passive reading” will stir up the brain due to flickering pictures. Moreover, at the first acquaintance with the book, it is recommended to simply flip through it so as not to immediately overload the brain. After “reading” the Wimmelbuch, it is not immediately possible to fall asleep, so you should not take it out before going to bed, especially in the first times.

At what age are calculated

The beauty of them is that a child of almost any age will discover something for themselves in them. Wimmelbuchs are suitable for both the smallest and for children of middle school age, but what is there, and they may be interesting to an adult. The older the child gets, the more he will understand. But even children under 3 years old will certainly be interested in Wimmelbuchs. Kids love to look at cars, appliances, household items, animals, and this is always present in abundance on the pages of Wimmelbuchs. Not all kids immediately show interest in this kind of books. But if at the first meeting the child was not interested, you should notjump to conclusions. Periodically, you need to try again and again, perhaps the child will “grow up.”

But one thing always remains the same, a child will always need a listener and an accomplice. The smallest someone needs to voice everything and name what they point their finger at. Older children need at least a listener to their stories, and at most an active writer.

To create a complete impression of the Wimmelbuch, what it is - can only be understood after spending several hours "reading". The books have many fans, but there are also those who have not appreciated them, and this is natural.

Wimmelbuch Berner Rotraut Suzanne

Perhaps the most popular are Wimmelbuchs, drawn by the German artist Suzanne Berner Rotraut. The story begins in the Wimmelbuch "Winter Book" and continues with the "Spring Book", "Summer Book" and "Autumn Book". Later, the series was supplemented by the Night Book, which depicts what happens to the heroes of the series when it is night outside.

These are the best to start with, as many people think that this is a Wimmelbuch that can be called ideal.

They are made very high quality and have A3 format, so their price is appropriate. The cost varies from 1 thousand rubles. up to 1.3 thousand rubles Issued in Russia by Samokat publishing house.

Wimmelbuch Goebel Doro

The second most popular in Russia can be considered a series of Wimmelbuchs by the artist Gebel Doro. Her wimmelbuch "In the Circus" is truly unique in subject matter and has no analogues. And also she hasother editions available:

• "On the river";
• "Neighbours";
• "Once Upon a Time in the City";
• Out of town.

Their price is a little more democratic than that of Suzanne's Berner Rotraut Wimmelbuchs, about 1 thousand rubles. The series is being produced by the Melik-Pashayev publishing house.

Wimmelbuchs of Russian artists

Russian artists also picked up this trend. For example, Bagin Petr Ivanovich. Excellent reviews on the Wimmelbuch of his pen "In the Forest". Due to the fact that the artist is Russian, the book depicts the nature of Russia, which is much closer to our children. In addition to pictures, there are many descriptions that will introduce children to the peculiarities of the life of animals in the forests. It describes how the forest changes over the course of 12 months. You can see in the section in which burrows squirrels or foxes live.

Where to buy

Buying them now is not a problem as their popularity is off the charts. At first, Russian-speaking users brought them with them from trips abroad, fortunately, there are almost no words there, and this removes the language barrier. For example, the New Year Wimmelbuch by artist Anna Seuss has not yet been translated into Russian, but Russian mothers order it from abroad and easily tell what they see in Russian.

Now Wimmelbuchs are also published in Russian, and all the most popular ones can be purchased at any store in the children's books department. It is most profitable to purchase these books in online stores, but after looking at them live, either in a physical store or from friends.

Inhabitants of Ukrainefor a long time they were satisfied with publications in Russian and English, but recently the Wimmelbuch "Zoo" appeared in Ukrainian.