Return by Aaron Becker
With Return, Aaron Becker completes his magical, wordless trilogy. Fueled by imagination, creativity and adventure, readers have followed a young girl as she copes with loneliness, opening a door to another world with the help of a red crayon in Journey. In Quest, our hero finds a friend and a new adventure, pulled back into another world by a king who needs their help.
In Return, our hero is slumped against the door of her father's study, red kite in hand and red rubber ball at her feet, wishing he would pay attention to her instead of the work before him on his drafting table. When she fails to get his attention, she heads to her room where she draws a door on her wall, returning to her kingdom. When her father realizes his daughter is nowhere to be found, he discovers the magical door and follows.
Becker closes his trilogy perfectly, bringing a third character into this world, connecting father and daughter. The two face a villain who has a mysterious box that gives him the power to vacuum up the creations brought to life by the red, purple and yellow magical crayons held by the girl, her friend and the king of this world. As they race to defeat him and rescue the king, they discover a sea cave where ancient drawings on the walls give them the direction they need in the magical world and back at home.
I can't think of a trilogy of picture books, wordless or otherwise, that creates a world filled with adventure, architecture and creativity like the one that Becker has gifted readers with. If you aren't sure how to read a wordless picture book out loud or what sort of magic can happen when you fall into one as special as this, be sure to read How to Read a Picture Book without Words Out Loud and/or my review of the second book in this trilogy, Quest.
Becker closes his trilogy perfectly, bringing a third character into this world, connecting father and daughter. The two face a villain who has a mysterious box that gives him the power to vacuum up the creations brought to life by the red, purple and yellow magical crayons held by the girl, her friend and the king of this world. As they race to defeat him and rescue the king, they discover a sea cave where ancient drawings on the walls give them the direction they need in the magical world and back at home.
I can't think of a trilogy of picture books, wordless or otherwise, that creates a world filled with adventure, architecture and creativity like the one that Becker has gifted readers with. If you aren't sure how to read a wordless picture book out loud or what sort of magic can happen when you fall into one as special as this, be sure to read How to Read a Picture Book without Words Out Loud and/or my review of the second book in this trilogy, Quest.
The first two books in this trilogy
with links to my reviews:
