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Translated from German, Wimmelbuch is a "picture puzzle book". There is very little text in it, and sometimes there is none at all. Each wimmelbuch spread is a large colorful image, which consists of the smallest fragments, heroes, phenomena and a variety of storylines.
It is believed that the genre appeared What Adults Can Learn From Dutch Children’s Books / The New York Times thanks to the Flemish artists Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Brueghel the Elder, known for their detailed paintings. Their works inspired the German illustrator Ali Mitguch to create wimmelbooks. The first book for children was published Ali 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 looking at it so much, not reading it, that the genre has taken root and remains popular to this day.
Wimmelbooks help to develop the child's speech. While his parents talk about what is happening on the pages, he remembers new words and learns to build sentences. Such books are useful for training attention, logical thinking and imagination. "Reading" can be interrupted by engaging 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—playing book. There is no single plot in it. Looking at the bright reversals, you can compose as many stories as your imagination allows. Studying wimmelbooks is more like a game, so it is a great way to spend time with the whole family.
The book gives a lot of opportunities to show imagination. You can just look at colorful plots without going into details, and you can arrange story competitions, complete tasks for a while, and even learn a foreign language with the help of a wimmelbuch. Try to fill leisure with meaning, focusing on the age and abilities of the child.
As a rule, by the age of 6–9 months, 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. For example, today you show and name animals, tomorrow — transport, the day after tomorrow — plants and so on. Try not to overwork the child. If he's tired and doesn't want to look at the pictures anymore, come back to the game in a couple of days.
At this age, you can not only learn words, but also fill speech with new meanings. Tell us about the shape and color of objects, explain the actions of 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 studying the world around him. Curious 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 is the sky blue and the forest green?".
Gradually increase the amount of information: compose long stories about the heroes of the book, make detailed suggestions. 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 story, discuss what is happening — in general, turn the game into a discussion.
By the way, at this age you can teach a child to count. Start with a simple one. For example, help to find out how many trees there are on the page. Over time, you will be able to start 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 a wimmelbuch, for example, on a walk, counting drakes in a pond or pigeons on a playground.
Together with the child, you can make a puzzle picture with your own hands. Determine the topic he is interested in and make a background. You can draw a map of the starry sky on a paper or print a ready-made forest landscape. The necessary characters and objects will be found on the pages of old magazines — together with the child, cut out everything that you liked and glue it to the blank. As a result, you will get your unique wimmelbook, which you can work with in the same way as with a book from a printing house.
