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Little Read Lakeshore 2025 Book

Journey

Aaron Becker

Book Summary

In Journey, a lonely girl uses a red crayon to draw a magical door on her bedroom wall, escaping into a breathtaking world of adventure and wonder. As she explores fantastical landscapes—lush forests, majestic castles, and sky-bound ships—she encounters both beauty and danger. When a majestic bird is captured by dark forces, she risks everything to save it. Her courage and compassion lead to an unexpected friendship and a hopeful return to her own world. Without using words, Becker tells a powerful story about imagination, bravery, and connection through intricate illustrations and a vivid use of color, especially the symbolic red crayon that drives the narrative forward.

About The Author

Aaron Becker

Aaron Becker is an acclaimed American author and illustrator, best known for his wordless picture book Journey, which earned a Caldecott Honor in 2014. Born in 1974 in Baltimore, Maryland, Becker graduated from Pomona College in 1996. Before venturing into children’s literature, he contributed as an artist to animated films such as The Polar Express, Cars, and A Christmas Carol.

Becker’s debut, Journey, launched a celebrated trilogy that includes Quest and Return, captivating readers with intricate illustrations and imaginative storytelling. His subsequent works, like A Stone for Sascha, You Are Light, and The Tree and the River, continue to explore themes of wonder and transformation. Notably, The Tree and the River received the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration in 2024.

Residing in Amherst, Massachusetts, with his wife and two daughters, Becker creates his art in a backyard studio. He often draws inspiration from his travels across Japan, East Africa, and Europe, as well as from the natural beauty of New England . Through his work, Becker invites readers to embark on journeys fueled by imagination and curiosity.

Reviews

“Though Becker has plenty of experience as an artist for films, ‘Journey’ is his first book, and it’s a masterwork. In a tale told solely through pictures, a lonely little girl in a dull, sepia-toned city picks up a red marker and draws a door on her bedroom wall. Through it, she enters a lushly detailed imaginary world where, with the marker’s help, she floats and flies through a dramatic escapade and returns home with a friend. Though that marker will make you think of Crockett Johnson’s ‘Harold and the Purple Crayon,’ Becker’s book has a beauty distinctly its own.”

Sarah Harrison Smith

Bookshelf: Up, Up and Away

Discussion Questions

  1. How do you know what the characters are feeling, even though there are no words? What clues do the pictures give you?
  2. Why do you think the author chose to make this a wordless book? How does that change how you experience the story?
  3. If you had a magical crayon like the girl, what would you draw? Where would your journey take you?
  4. What do you think the bird represents in the story? Why does the girl help it?
  5. Do you think the journey was real or imagined? What makes you think that?
  6. How does the ending make you feel? Why do you think the story ends the way it does?