I don't think the world needs another wallflower girl, so anything that nudges Emma away from the shy, second class citizenship so many women are cast into is all right by me! I know I was happy to see a girl as the hero of the story, taking matters into her own hands, going on adventures, etc.

Otherwise nothing more than a touch of gold here or a highlighted gleam of light there are used to transform the dull landscape into something living and vaguely mysterious.Įmma isn't terribly sexist (on the other hand just recently she started a 'NO BOYS ALLOWED!' club, though I think that was set up in hopes of luring in the boys with reverse psychology), but the fact that the main character is a girl might have increased her interest in Journey. A vivid red is used to indicate the magic items the girl has drawn. And yet, the funny thing is, much of this is in drab colors. The full spread, and sometimes double spread illustrations are highly detailed. This book isn't an entirely original idea, but it is very well executed. We excitedly guessed what the girl was drawing next and lingered lovingly over the lavish illustrations, reveling in the merest of details. She draws up a boat or magic carpet or whatever, and off we go into a fantastical land of fairy forests, castles and steampunky airships. All three of us sat around the dining room table, not reading the wordless pages, yet fully enthralled by this wonderful adventure of a girl escaping loneliness and the doldrums of daily life with a stick of magic chalk. Usually reading time is an Emma and me thing, but even Tita Cherry (my wife/Emma's aunt) got in on this one. We LOVED Journey!!! We loved everything about it! * * * Read and Reviewed by Me & My Niece Emma * * *

Journey by Aaron Becker