Pistes d'exploration

Pass this wordless book around the group. Take turns using the illustrations to narrate the next part of the story. 

Write a story of your own magical journey, or the story of a real trip you once took.

Write a blog the girl might write as she goes on her imaginary journey.

With a partner, write a question and an answer for each page, or write a line of text for each page.

Do a picture walk, talking about the pictures and creating the story language as you turn the pages.

With a partner, write one question and answer about the pages of the book. 

Make an advertisement or a book trailer for the book. 

This wordless text makes a good introduction to graphic texts. Examine the first double-page spread and discuss the visual elements (use of colour, space, etc.). Keep a running inventory of these elements.

In small groups, discuss the elements of genre that you notice (setting, character types, source of conflict, etc.). What type of story is this? How do you know?

Use the text in conjunction with others for the immersion into text. Use a production process to draft, revise, edit and publish fantasy narratives.

Predict how the following words might be connected to this story: journey, pencil, door, capture, rescue, girl and boy.

For each two-page spread, write three words that capture the essence of the illustration. Turn to a peer and explain your choices.

Create a blog the girl might write as she goes on her imaginary journey.

Write the story of a real and personal trip but include a fantastical twist.

The Pencil, Quest

Mots-clés

Adventure , Picture book , art , creativity , friendship , imaginary world , imagination , journeys , magic , wordless book

Commentaire descriptif

Exquisitely detailed images in pen and ink effects portray the rich world of one young artist’s imagination. The first spreads are rendered in subtle monochrome. The girl hunches on her stoop. She goes inside, but her family is too busy to play. When she draws a door in her bedroom wall, colour, light and magic worlds come to life. The combination of sketchy line, gradient washes and strong colour highlights create warm and appealing images that offer more story the closer readers look. Children will pore over details in scenes such as a lantern glade, an island city and wondrous airships manned by intimidating soldiers. Using her red pencil, the girl draws her way through them all, making herself a boat, a hot-air balloon, and finally a magic carpet, which she flies to escape re-capture by the soldiers. In a lovely twist at the end of this wordless tale, the girl’s solitary, imaginary world is joined with that of another—a boy with a purple pencil. She’s led back to the real, monochrome world through his door. The last image shows girl and boy—pencils held close—riding a bicycle for two, with a wheels of each colour.