Quest

This book follows two young boys who find themselves on an incredible journey. Led by a mysterious map and colorful objects in their hands, the boys work together to accomplish their quest. After some time, we realize that the colorful objects they've been armed with are colored markers that help them make their way through a portal, under the sea, to a tropical island, over a very scary bridge, and through the air. Ultimately, their quest leads them to find every color marker and they free a king from darkness.

Although this is the second book in a trilogy series, this book truly stood on its own and told a story that did not depend on the other books in the series to be successful. Quest, a Caldecott Honor book, explores themes of mystery and bravery in a beautiful and visually captivating way.

Through the author's use of color, the story was brought to life in unsuspecting ways. The reader's eye was drawn to certain parts of the images, establishing focus and cluing readers into the important parts of images that would be ultimately important overall. The author also used framing in this story a lot. On several pages, illustrations were set to white backgrounds that allowed the reader to focus on the movement and imagery that pushed the story along. In many of these examples, a sequence or passing of time was evident, so this made it easy for the reader to infer what was going on, without the need for words.

I think that this is a great adventure book and I am interested in reading the rest of the series! Although there were no words, I believe that students would be incredibly interested in the idea of a quest and this would be an ideal book choice for students that have a high interest in mysteries or fantasy.

In the classroom, this book—like all wordless picture books—would serve as a wonderful medium for a lesson on predicting or questioning. Students could stop throughout the book, noting the different pictures and interpreting what they mean. This would also be a great model for a wordless picture book writing assignment, in which students look at this book for inspiration or ideas. Overall, I think that this is a great book for students beginning in second grade. Children of all ages, however, will have a great time immersing themselves in this story and using illustrations to make meaning.

Quest
By: Aaron Becker
Published in 2014