Journey

Title: Journey

Author/Illustrator: Aaron Becker

Target Audience: 4-9

Genre: Picture book, Fantasy

Journey takes a lonely, bored girl on a drawing adventure when she draws a magic door on the wall of her bedroom and enters a world of wonder, adventure, and even danger. With her red marker, she creates a boat, a balloon, and a flying carpet that takes her on a fantastical journey. It is when she is captured that she is faced with her destiny. Themes of courage, kindness, and friendship are explored.

Follow a girl on an elaborate flight of fancy in a wondrously illustrated, wordless picture book about self-determination — and unexpected friendship.

About the Author/Illustrator:

Aaron Becker has worked as an artist for such film studios as Lucasfilm, Disney, and Pixar, where he helped define the look and feel of characters, stories, and the movies they become a part of. With Journey, he has created characters and worlds of his very own, using traditional materials and techniques. Aaron Becker lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with his wife, daughter, and cat. This is his first book.

"I’ve made several memorable journeys in my lifetime. I’ve lived in rural Japan and East Africa and backpacked through the South Pacific and Sweden. But to this day, my favorite destination remains my imagination, where you can often find me drawing secret doorways and magic lanterns." — Aaron Becker

Discussion Questions:

1. Why did the girl feel bored and lonely at the beginning of the book?
2. How do you know the feeling that the girl experiences?
3. What colors are used for what, and when?
4. When are the pictures tinted grey?
5. When are the pictures tinted purple?
6. What effect does the red have?
7. What effect does the purple have?
8. How does the character feel at the end of the book? How do you know?

Motivational Activities:

• Teachers will promote discussion and reaction during the page to page journey.
• Students can make predictions as the story progresses in a journal style text.
• Students will have a 2 page spread on their desk and will create text based on the pictures. The focus will be feelings and dialogue.
• Small groups can create a wordless book to share with the class focusing on color and feelings.
• Classes can incorporate a composition with words and/or instruments to accompany the pictures presented in the book.

More books in the Journey Series

Quest

If you like wordless picture books, try one of these:

Bill Thompson's Chalk
Barbara Lehmen's The Red Book
Barbara Lehmen's Rainstorm

Becker, Aaron. Journey. Somerville: Candlewick, 2013. Print.