Journey

By: Aaron Becker

     Journey (2013) is a Caldecott Honor wordless picturebook, and the first work in a trilogy by Becker. The story begins with a lonely girl who is so bored in her colorless bedroom world until she finds a magic red marker that allows her to enter an imaginative world of various cultures, color, and new people.  She begins the journey by drawing a door on her bedroom wall, and then enters into her extensive and intricately depicted new world. 

     In the depiction of the "real world" of the girl's home and bedroom, Becker solely uses shades of gray to create a strong sense of boredom for readers in a world void of color.  However, as soon as the girl embarks on her journey through the door, the illustrations are packed with color (though none shine as brightly as her red drawings and marker).  As readers travel through the girl's new world of color, aspects of many cultures are present in the artwork, such as the Asian influence of the paper lanterns in her first new setting.  Many of these intricate illustrations draw upon Becker's own experiences as a world traveler, in combination with his beloved imagination and allow the readers to embark on personal journeys of their own.

     Not only do the scenes of this new world contain color, but there are also new people that notice the girl and wave at her.  With each new vessel (i.e. door, boat, hot air balloon, magic carpet) that the girl imagines and creates, she is transported to new locations, including one particularly impressive illustration of a massive castle city.  At one point, she notices a purple-drawn bird and frees it from a cage, which causes her to be trapped instead.  Through the theme of friendship, the bird returns the favor and frees her, before leading her back to her real (all gray) world to meet a boy in a similar situation to her own- but with a purple marker.  The two children become fast friends and prepare to take on new adventures together through what promises to be more artistic mastery in the sequel, Quest.

     After reading this book, in addition to one other, I have a new found appreciation for wordless picturebooks.  I believe that this book, like many wordless books, would be great for beginning readers and ELLs to practice language by telling the story with language that they have the ability to produce.  While it is an especially beneficial book to these learners, I think all readers would enjoy this book, because of its emphasis on the theme of imagination as a way to make friends, escape reality, and embark on new adventures.  Additionally, the attention to detail within each illustration allows imaginative stories to be told in reading this book.  No two readers will tell the story in the exact same way; in fact, no reader will even tell the story with the same words twice, so it provides a novel experience with each read and perspective.