A Day with No Words

Discussion questions 

• Hammond uses similes to describe the voices that Aiden hears, how would you describe your voice or other sounds using the words like or as?

• Aiden loves the feeling of the grass on his feet and spinning. Thinking about all your 5 senses, what are some of your favorite things to explore with your senses?

• This book talks about one way that people can communicate: using a tablet. What are other ways that we can communicate?

• The woman in the park makes fun of Aiden and his mother stands up for him. What are some ways the people in the park could have interacted with Aiden and his mother that were more respectful? (This is a great opportunity to talk to kids about differences and how to ask about them. There are some good guidelines for respectful questions on this site: https://www.disabilityfriendlylv.com/disability-etiquette-simple-guide-to-respectful-communication/ )

Vocabulary

The back matter in the book is really wonderful for understanding Aiden and his experiences. It’s also written in kid-friendly language.

• Autistic - n. A person who has Autism Spectrum Disorder, a difference in the way the brain develops. A kid with Autism may have trouble understanding the world around them, including difficulty with language learning, language use, and social interaction. To read more about Autism, follow this link: https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/autism.html 

• Sneers - v. to smile in a mocking way that shows a lack of respect. 

• Handicapped - n. Having a physical or mental difference that makes certain tasks or learning more difficult to achieve. In this story it is used as an insult.

Video content

• Autism Advocate Tiffany Hammond Shares "A Day with No Words" | Read Aloud & Draw Along (YouTube, 16:33m)

• Understanding Autism with Sesame Street (YouTube, 32s)

Publisher content 

• Simon & Schuster

• A Day with No Words website with  information and a coloring sheet

Activities

• Draw with chalk or oil pastels on black and other colored construction paper to reproduce the striking look of the illustrations in this book.

• This is a perfect book for Neurodiversity Celebration Week, which is in March every year. (Likely the 17th - 22nd in 2025.) The website for this celebration has a resource hub with lots of ideas.

• Activites from Neurodiversity Celebration Week

• Aiden enjoys feeling the damp grass on his bare feet; use this as a jumping off point for a sensory storytime. This can have lots of different aspects. 

  • Create a sensory mystery box! Gather 3-4 objects (a stuffed animal, a flashlight or small tape measurer, etc.) and place them in a sealed box. Ask kids to guess what they are based on the senses they can use to explore it (cut a flap so they can feel it.)

  • Explore smells by creating mystery smelling cups. Place a small amount of different spices in several small paper cups (4oz.) Cover the top with tinfoil, secure with tape, and poke a few holes in the top. Can you students guess what each one is?

  • This blog post has other ideas of ways to incorporate sensory play into your read-alouds.

• Invite a neurodiverse speaker in to talk about their experiences.

• Challenge your students to explore non-spoken communication and complete a task without using spoken words.

• The illustration style in several places in this book uses multiple, overlapping images as a way to show movement. It is reminiscent of Dada/Futurist art like Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase or, for a more kid-friendly example, Giacomo Balla's Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash. Share this image and challenge kids to create their own images with movement.

Companion books