Quest is the incredible sequel to Aaron Becker’s 2014 Caldecott Honor Book, Journey.   It, like Journey, is a wordless book with breathtaking illustrations.

I particularly like to use wordless books with my fourth graders.  They are a restless bunch, usually wanting to talk amongst themselves rather than listen to a read aloud.  With a book like Quest, I stand in front of my students and page through the book for them as they “read” it to themselves.

Even those students who were reluctant to pay attention quieted quickly.  Quest held their attention so well, you could only hear the whispers as they “read” this book and said soft “aahhs” at the beautiful illustrations.  At the end, my intractable group smiled and clapped.  They loved it!

Quest begins at the end of Journey.  (To be sure my students understood this, I showed them Journey first and then Quest.)  The two children, a boy holding a purple crayon and a girl holding a red crayon, meet a king who gives them a written message, with multiple colors on it.  The king is abducted by soldiers and taken away.  The boy and girl use their crayons to try to save the king using the clues in the message he gave them.  To see if they succeed, read this wonderful book and enjoy.