THE FARMER AND THE CLOWN by Marla Frazee
     “The book opens in a subdued landscape with the grim farmer, whose displeasure is evident when he’s obliged to rescue the young clown thrown from a passing circus train. At first, the farmer and the clown seem in stark contrast. The young clown is dressed in a red one-piece, with a relentlessly cheerful, painted smile, while the old, bent-over farmer has stark black overalls and an unchanging, glum face. But when it is time to wash up, the farmer sheds his black and white clothes and reveals a red one-piece of his own. The clown’s painted smile is wiped off, revealing that the child’s face is actually sorrowful. The emotional resonance of that single mirroring scene is extraordinary. In fact the entire book, with Frazee’s perfect pacing of images and use of negative space, light and shadow is true poetry.”  
-  New York Times Book Review
PUBLISHER: Beach Lane Books 2014

THE THREE QUESTIONS (based on a story by Leo Tolstoy) by Jon J. Muth
     "Muth recasts a short story by Tolstoy into picture-book format, substituting a boy and his animal friends for the czar and his human companions. Yearning to be a good person, Nikolai asks, "When is the best time to do things? Who is the most important one? What is the right thing to do?" Sonya the heron, Gogol the monkey and Pushkin the dog offer their opinions, but their answers do not satisfy Nikolai. He visits Leo, an old turtle who lives in the mountains. While there, he helps Leo with his garden and rescues an injured panda and her cub, and in so doing, finds the answers he seeks. Moral without being moralistic, the tale sends a simple and direct message unfreighted by pomp or pedantry."
- Publisher's Weekly
PUBLISHER: Scholastic Press 2002
 

THE FAMILY UNDER THE BRIDGE by Natalie Savage Carlson/ Illustrated by Garth Williams
     "This is the delightfully warm and enjoyable story of an old Parisian named Armand, who relished his solitary life. Children, he said, were like starlings, and one was better off without them.
     But the children who lived under the bridge recognized a true friend when they met one, even if the friend seemed a trifle unwilling at the start. And it did not take Armand very long to realize that he had gotten himself ready-made family; one that he loved with all his heart, and one for whom he would have to find a better home than the bridge." - HarperCollins
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins 1989

JOURNEY by Aaron Becker
QUEST by Aaron Becker
RETURN by Aaron Becker
     "Follow a girl on an elaborate flight of fancy in a wondrously illustrated, wordless picture book trilogy about self-determination — and unexpected friendship.
     A lonely girl draws a magic door on her bedroom wall and through it escapes into a world where wonder, adventure, and danger abound. Red marker in hand, she creates a boat, a balloon, and a flying carpet that carry her on a spectacular journey toward an uncertain destiny. When she is captured by a sinister emperor, only an act of tremendous courage and kindness can set her free. Can it also lead her home and to her heart’s desire? Author-illustrator Aaron Becker launches an ordinary child on an extraordinary journey ... "It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences." - Goodreads
PUBLISHER: Candlewick 2013