Friday, July 1, 2016

Caldecott Honoree Aaron Becker’s wordless trilogy finale "RETURN" [Review & Giveaway - USA/CANADA]

I previously reviewed books #1 and #2 in the Journey trilogy by Caldecott Honoree Aaron Becker. This beautifully drawn and conceived trilogy has not a word in them. As a wordless trilogy it has spectacular imagery and it takes the "reader" on a journey from boredom to exciting adventure - a complete round trip out and back home.

Now the finale is available bringing the journey to an exciting close. From being a lonely girl to making a friend to encountering kings, creatures at castles, and enveloped in beautifully enchanting landscapes of water, sky, and land.

Colored is somewhat muted in book #1, the illustrations utilize more color in book #2 and simply explode with color (and excitement) in the finale, #3.

Children enjoy "telling" the story time after time and in their own words as they grasp the details fuller with each reading. Wordless books give a decided opportunity for the parent to help the child to engage more fully in recognizing the tiniest of details that make a story.

Journey - book #1; Quest - book #2; Return - book #3

Return - Aaron Becker's #3 in wordless trilogy

On Sale August 2nd, 2016
40 pages, Ages 4-8
Hardcover ISBN: 9780763677305
 About the book/series: Failing to get the attention of her busy father, a lonely girl turns back to a fantastic world for friendship and adventure. It’s her third journey into the enticing realm of kings and emperors, castles and canals, exotic creatures and enchanting landscapes. This time, it will take something truly powerful to persuade her to return home, as a gripping backstory is revealed that will hold readers in its thrall. Caldecott Honor winner Aaron Becker delivers a suspenseful and moving climax to his wordless trilogy, an epic that began with the award-winning Journey and continued with the celebrated follow-up Quest.

My thoughts: In Return the little girl is again very bored and so leaves through the magical door. This time, though, her father notices she is gone and seeing the door open, follows her. An exciting adventure ensues climaxing with a really good reason to return home this time. Aaron Becker's watercolor scenes explode with excitement as he paints the lonely girl's way through this story.

The king and crown, the boy with the purple crayon, the inattentive father, and the little girl desiring to take her red crayon and color her way through some fun and activities bring a pallet of enjoyment to the reader.

In honor of Book #3 in the Journey Trilogy by Aaron Becker, the good folks at Candlewick Press have graciously provided books #1 and #2 in the series for a giveaway here on Chat With Vera. Now about the two books in the giveaway, here is a bit about each of them.....

Just in case you're not familiar with "wordless books," here is a Guide to Reading A Wordless Book.


Now you can have some fun with Journey and Quest by purchasing your own and pre-ordering Return. Here is some activity fun that you can use in the meantime.



Also, one of Chat With Vera's readers in either the United States or Canada will win a prize package of one hardcover copy of Journey and Quest. What fun!

GIVEAWAY
Prize Pack: book #1 Journey and book #2 Quest
Begins July 1
Ends July 23 @ 12:01 a.m EDT
Open to USA & CANADA addresses only

Giveaway Prize: 1 copy each - Journey & Quest

a Rafflecopter giveaway
DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher to facilitate this review. Opinions are my own and I was not compensated for the review. Prize is provided by Candlewick Press and will be shipped directly to the winner by Candlewick at the conclusion of the contest/giveaway.

15 comments:

  1. I love reading to my granddaughter and thoroughly going through all the illustrations. We sometimes explore alternate ways the story could evolve.

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  2. Yes, I enjoy reading wordless books with children. It is interesting to see what they observe and deem important as opposed to an adult's point of view.

    Nancy
    allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

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  3. I enjoy reading to my youngest daughter. We are currently enrolled in a program through our local library to read 1000 books before she enters kindergarten! She likes to listen to the different voices I give to the characters.

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  4. I really enjoy reading children's book to my nieces. They always love to look at all of the pictures and illustrations. I like how the illustrations keep their minds active.

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  5. The illustration of a great book are as good as the story itself. Sometime it can create a whole new discussion.
    jan

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  6. I not only love reading them to my grand kids but love reading them myself.

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  7. Sometimes I enjoy looking at all the details, making the characters talk, etc...and sometimes I just want my child to get to bed.

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  8. I love the blending of pink to blue where the color turned a lavender.
    I enjoy reading children's books either alone or to children. I was a children's librarian for years, so had lots of practice. I do prefer to read to a single child or just a few. It is easier to take time to savor the story and peruse the illustrations.

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  9. Yes, we enjoy looking at the illustrations & brings the story alive.

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  10. I like "reading" wordless books to my daughter because we can talk about what's going on with each other. I ask, "What do you think is going on here?"

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  11. We enjoy wordless books and love seeing the story brought to life through the pictures and my son's own words.

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  12. I read to my three year old grandson all the time when I go to visit him, he loves his story books-

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  13. I've been really wanting to get my hands on this series even though I've never been good at sharing wordless picture books with kids. I always feel very dependent on the language in books and rarely spend a lot of time talking about the pictures together. I should work on that! :) Thanks for sharing this at Booknificent Thursday on Mommynificent.com!
    Tina

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  14. I have always read picture books to my grandchildren. One of my best memories is hearing them 'read' the book themselves by looking at the illustrations - it's interesting to hear what parts of my reading actually stuck with them, especially their tome of voice.

    One of my granddaughters actually thought she had to lick her finger before turning the page - wonder where she got that from!

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  15. I read aloud to my children, and we listen to a lot of audiobooks. I'm a teacher and love reading to my students. Even older kids enjoy it!
    Dianna

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