Adventure Awaits

Wordless picture book Journey by Aaron Becker is an exciting tale of adventure for children ages 4-8, but anyone will be entranced by this book’s artwork, pictures which tell the story so well that no words are necessary.  Published in 2013 by Candlewick Press, this 2014 Caldecott Honor Book is reminiscent of Harold and the Purple Crayon but with a story all its own to tell.  The muted pen and ink illustrations at the beginning of the book, brightened only by the color red, depict a lonely girl for whom everyone is too busy.  Picking up a red crayon, she draws a door on her bedroom wall and enters a world of her imagination filled with beautiful watercolors. For each step of her journey, she draws her modes of transportation–a boat, a hot air balloon, a magic flying carpet–but must be set free by a friend that she had freed earlier in the tale: a purple bird.  In an homage to Harold, Becker has subtly placed the color purple throughout the book, even from the first pen and ink spread with a boy on the edge of the page holding a purple crayon.  This story of friendship and adventure will delight readers of all ages.