Wordless Picture Book: Quest

Title: Quest
Author: Aaron Becker
Publication: 2014

Okay, so I'm not going to lie, at first, I was like wordless books, what the heck - I'm going to hate these. I absolutely love photos and photography but something about them telling a story - ALONE - without words to describe them kind of scares me. Mainly because in my English class in high school, especially, I was always the kid who tried to interpret things like say... Beowulf, an old epic poem, or Sonnets by Shakespeare... and always being wrong. Then in class, I'd be like ohhhh, that's what the author meant - I got something totally different from that. So when I read wordless books, I would get confused and a tad bewildered because I think I will interpret it wrong, since it's up to the reader to decide.

However, after putting my hesitation aside, I LOVED my first wordless book. I would have liked to think that I just happened upon a good one and all the rest will stink. But now, after reading this one and the others, my opinion has changed. So, thank you Dr. Cavendish for introducing me to wordless books, because now I am a better person and teacher because of it.

Quest is about a young boy and girl, who happen upon a king, who gives them some magic tools. The king is kidnapped, so they go on a journey to save him by following the map he gave them as a guide. The storyline is beautiful and magical, and it doesn't need words to supplement it. I do appreciate the author putting a small synopsis on the book jacket though, so at least I know my interpretation is not going in the total wrong direction. However, I did find myself going back and forth multiple times throughout the book to realize "Did I miss something," and "Oh yeah, the map said this or the tools were this, etc.". I think it was fun though, almost like I was trying to decipher my own treasure map and figure out for myself where the characters were headed and what they were doing in each picture.

The artistic drawings were magnificent - I could look at them for days. The author's use of color was very well thought out and used appropriately. He begins the book with a spec of color on the bike wheels and in the chalk markers in the characters' hands. Throughout the length of the book, he adds color in certain spots for certain purposes. This use of color draws the reader in and really makes he or she focus on the colored area and why they are colored. In using this technique, the reader is able to better understand the story because it's as if the color contrasted against the bleak gray background tells a story in and of itself. This book is beautifully drawn through a creatively-crafted story, and I would definitely pick it up again to read. I'm just curious how I would use it to teach...Do I just show them the pictures and don't speak or talk? Let them decipher it for themselves? Then, maybe the second time around talk them through the story and see the different ideas I would get from the class? Maybe. Let me read my other two wordless books and maybe I'll come up with a better, more polished idea.