The Red Book

The Red Book #1

by Barbara Lehman

This book is about a book. A magical red book without any words. When you turn the pages you’ll experience a new kind of adventure through the power of story.

Winning a Caldecott Honor for its illustrations of rare detail and surprise, The Red Book crosses oceans and continents to deliver one girl into a new world of possibility, where a friend she’s never met is waiting. And as with the best of books, at the conclusion of the story, the journey is not over.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Adventure, Friendship, Books About Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

Illustrator and author of children's books.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wordless book about a kid finding a magic red book. It shows pictures of another kid who found another red book on an island somewhere. The island kid looks lonely and the big city kid is in deep winter. They can see each other in the pictures in the book. The city kid finds a way to the island.

I didn’t think the artwork was anything special here really, but it does tell the story just fine, so it does its job.

The nephew told this story and he had this boy flying all over the place and it was most exciting. There were monsters at the end he had to get to his side that didn’t seem to be in the book, you know, the usual. He gave this 4 stars and the niece gave this 1 star. She wasn’t very amused by it. She really has outgrown these books. We are in the home stretch and I think she will finish it out with me.

[Mir · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the striking cover of this wordless picture book, a small child running through a bright red negative space (although the placement of the medal makes him appear to be fleeing from the moon). Maybe this image set the bar too high, as I found the book itself disappointing. The idea is fascinating if not totally original: finding a book in which one sees someone else reading the same book and looking back. However, I felt as if Lehman had this idea and then dashed something off without giving it much more thought. The illustrations aren't very interesting or emotional, and the plot is overly simple for the concept:

A little boy walking on a snowy city street finds a red book. He goes to school, where he appears to have no interaction with anyone. Looking in the book he sees another boy on a tropical island holding open a red book which shows him. After school he gets a giant bunch of balloons and flies away, dropping the book in the process. Through the second boy's book we see him reach the island. A new boy finds the book.

To a child, I suspect the little boy's abandonment of his (presumed) family might seem a little disturbing. And as an adult reading to a child the last thing I want is a bunch of unanswerable questions that will be asked over and over. Why is the boy so eager to get to the island? Doesn't he have any friends? What about his family? Does he ever go home, and how? Maybe I'm missing what the author is trying to get at here, but I think the magical-book theme has been done a lot better.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was left surprisingly unmoved and unimpressed.

I love books, and books about books, and I’ve liked some of this author’s other wordless picture books.

But here her illustrations aren’t that special, though I did enjoy the girl and boy looking at each other, and I did love the balloons.

The wordless story is sparse and very short and simple. The idea of it is great. David Wiesner wowed me with a similar seeming story in his book Flotsam, but this book paled in comparison, and I made the comparison.

It was okay. I liked it, but I didn’t think it was that special.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 4 year old son is all ready for Common Core because he connected this book with Flotsam.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young girl, making her way through a wintry urban landscape in this wordless picture-book, happens upon a red book lying in the snow, and, picking it up and bringing it with her to school, is soon engrossed in its pages, which depict a tropical island paradise. Imagine her surprise when the young boy in the book, sitting on a sandy beach and reading himself, is looking at an illustrations of her city, and of her! Determined to reach this new friend, made in a moment of magical connection, the girl buys a large bunch of balloons after school, and flies away to join him, leaving the red book behind, to be discovered anew...

The artwork here is just delightful, particularly the winter scenes (I have always loved winter landscapes, which never fail to enchant me with their sense of depth, mystery, and magic), and well worthy of the Caldecott Honor that they won. The story, such as it is, reminded me a bit of another wordless picture-book, David Wiesner's Flotsam , which also features a connection made to far-off people and places, through a found object, although I have to say that the sense of story in Wiesner's book is far stronger than here. I really enjoyed the initial premise, but somehow, once the girl seized her balloons and floated off, I was less thrilled. Somehow, it seemed like more of an abandonment of the story, than a conclusion to it, and stands in stark contrast, in my mind, to the similar tale in Arthur Yorinks and Richard Egielski's Hey, Al which also features a magical trip to a tropical paradise.

Still, I don't want to overstate the case. The Red Book is still an enjoyable book, and although I wouldn't put it in the rank of my favorites - either when it comes to wordless picture-books, or magical realist travel adventures - I still enjoyed it.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 'Twilightzonish' story that has a very happy ending...teaches children about exploring the world through books and imagination.

[Lauma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wordless picture book for kids of all ages. A young girl finds a magical red book that reveals another world where a boy has the same book and can see her as well. The girl finds a way to join her friend at the end of the book and leaves you wondering. It is a delightful story with simple yet telling colorful illustrations.

This book is a good choice for introducing the genre of magical fantasy to young readers. It offers children an opportunity to discuss the story as they look at the details in each successive frame. For older children, they could write text to match the pictures and practice targeted literary skills.

[Agnė · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Red Book is a simple yet slightly mind-bending wordless picturebook with uncluttered illustrations, which creatively celebrates a book's potential to connect its readers to one another and to transport them to faraway places:

[Mary Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

very clever - left me smiling and wondering and wondering and smiling - just what will happen next?

[Amie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Red Book, a little girl sees a red book in a snowpile and takes it with her to school. When she opens it up and starts turning the pages, the girl finds herself looking at a boy who is looking at a book with her in it. They realize at the same time that they are seeing into each other's lives. The girl decides to set off in search of her new friend using helium-filled balloons. As she is flying away she drops her book. Soon the little boy can no longer see her in his book and starts to weep, not realizing that she is about to land on the beach next to him. As the dropped book slowly closes, a new little boy picks it up and we know he will be the next to have an adventure.
At least that is how I read it. That is what is so great about this wordless picture book. Each reader can have their own version of this story since it is left for you to interpret from the illustrations what is happening. Barbara Lehman makes her book within a book within a book so unique by her use of perspective, layout and borders. From the beginning you feel like you are looking through a window watching this little girl's adventure unfold. Then you are taken a step further back when she opens the book and sees the little boy. The perspective changes from the girl's to the boy's and then back again. While I was reading it, I felt like I was looking through a camera, zooming in and out. Younger students would enjoy predicting what will happen next and sharing words that would fit the illustrations. Older students could learn about how perspective is an important part of writing and come up with their own adventure about what happens to the little boy who picks up the dropped book. Grades K-4th.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended ages 4-8
From Booklist
PreS-Gr. 2. In this wordless mind trip for tots, Lehman develops a satisfying fantasy in a series of panels framed with thick white borders. The effect is of peering through portals, an experience shared by the characters as they independently stumble across enchanted red books that provide them with a videophone-like connection. Though wordless picture books often seem to be the province of fine artists indulging in high-concept braggadocio (as in Istvan Banyai's 1995 Zoom), Lehman's effort ensures child appeal with an unaffected drawing style and a simple, easy-to-follow story line about a friendship forged between a city girl and a faraway island boy. The message about the transporting power of story will moisten the eyes of many adult readers, but children will most appreciate the thought-provoking visuals, in which characters' actions influence the course of their own storybook narratives--likewise affecting the larger "red book," cleverly packaged to mimic the shape and color of its fictional counterpart. Ideal for fueling creative-writing exercises. Jennifer Mattson

This word-less Caldecott Honor Book was a joy to "read". I loved the illustrations because they were not too busy and were approachable to younger readers. This will be a book that I will read with my students in writers workshop as a mentor text to show how pictures can tell fascinating stories. The book ends with the girl and boy meeting each other and the red book ends up on the ground in the city. A man is seen riding his bike with the book in hand. Where will he go? What will happen to him or who will he meet when he opens the book? Love it! Can't wait to show my students.

[Aiyana Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The red book by Barbara Lehman all starts with a young boy finding a red book in the snow. HE gets to school, brings it out and starts to read it. He notices that he just sees pictures and each picture gets closer and closer until there is ably walking on this island. The boy on the island comes across a red book in the sand and starts to ready. Now as the boy in school is reading this book, the boy on the island is reading the red book he found in the sand and he's the boy at school reading it. After the both realize they are reading each others story, the boy leaves still once class is dismissed and gets several balloons, enough to carry him tot he island destination where the other boy is. As he is flying away, he drops the red book, and we are shown that the boy with the balloons found the boy on the island. After that another young boy on a bike finds the red book and rides off.
-At first when I read this book and finished it, I had to take a few more seconds looking at the part where the two boys realized they were reading each others stories, got me confused.
-Throughout the entire story it is border off as if its a movie picture.
-On the title page there is a motivation that says “to my father” which I thought was sweet because at the beginning of the book and after it describes the story of the book and the author.
This book was probably by far one the best books I’ve read, only because of the imagination and inspiration Barbara Lehman had creating this book. I would recommend this book to any teachers becoming young aged school teachers. Great book over all. It may have been a little mind blowing at the part where the boys realize they are reading each others story, so I recommend looking at these pages a little longer than the others.

[Erin Ramai · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Red Book is appropriate for readers in preschool through grade 2. It received a Caldecott Honor Award in 2005.

In this wordless picture book, a young girl from the city takes a journey to visit an island boy via a red book that they both own and acts as their window to the other’s world. The island boy experiences the cold weather of the city when the girl flies to his island using a large bundle of balloons. As she flies toward him, she drops her copy of the book, which is discovered by another city boy who has the opportunity to continue the cycle.

This book reminded me of Floatsam by David Wiesner in that the pictures zoomed in, adding more detail and also because the story was cyclical. Lehman took the idea one step further by allowing the characters’ lives to intertwine, if only briefly. The book is clearly intended for the emergent reader audience because its pictures are simplistic and easy to interpret. Thus, this book would allow young readers to create the story orally as they move through the sequence of pictures. For slightly older readers, this book could be utilized as a starting point for a creative writing activity where students narrate the story through text.

[Jane Holt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good one, recommended by my friend Maura. Harvard class of 1989's 20th reunion. Hits close to home with reflecting on what you've done in those 20 years, the promise, potential and authenticity of each life, especially this group with its Harvard-fueled expectations. Author has a nice ability to really change voice with each character. A really lovely read.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wordless picture book was similar to
David Wiesner's book, Flotsam. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like this book even came close to the talent that was found in Flotsam. I found it to be slightly confusing to understand and the illustrations were nothing spectacular. It's not that it isn't a nice book, it's just that it wasn't great.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wordless book about a wordless red book that can transport you to other places. A fun concept and I enjoy the homage it pays to books and imagination.

[Earl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wordless picture book takes readers into a story within a story within a story!

[Chance Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular use of perspective to tell a meta story within a story (within... etc etc). Bold lines and bright colors accentuate the tale.

I glanced at this one because Barbara Lehman's partner is Sylvie Kantorovitz's, whose memoir I just read. They have a similar style. I complimented Kantorovitz's economy of language. Maybe she got that from her partner, who created this wordless masterwork.

[Νick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Το καλύτερο βιβλίο, άλλαξε τη ζωή μου.

[E.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Red Book is a wordless, Caldecott Honor Award book illustrated by Barbara Lehman about a young girl who finds a red book laying in the snow. As she looks through the book, she sees a young boy on an island. Meanwhile, on an island, a young boy has a similar red book and sees a young girl in the city. The two books are connected to each other and eventually, the young girl takes a set of balloons to go see the boy on the island.
The concept of this book, while fascinating, might be a little difficult for children under the age of 4 to understand. The illustrations are great to use as a talking point for older preschoolers, one could have children 4 and up create their own narration using the words. For example, at the beginning of the book which shows a city and the young girl walking through it, the narration could be “Samantha took a walk. It was cold and snowy. She saw something red in the snow” etc.
The illustrations themselves are simple and neat, and not too detailed. The objects are familiar and the human features are very basic, but one can still tell one character apart from the other. The colors used are as vivid, but more grounded and realistic. As far as objects per page, there aren’t that many, usually buildings, the boy or the girl, the book, and the book.
Finally, despite the simple illustrations, this book is not meant for somebody under the age of 4. The book is long at 32 pages and the concept of it might be confusing for somebody younger than 4.

[Xi Cai · Rating 4 out of 5]

The red book talks about two boys who both found a red cover book in different settings, they saw each other by reading flipping through this book. The first thing caught my eye is the cover of this book. It is read without any image on the cover but the red color. The title of the book is also in red color on the cover, readers can not easily see the title without trying to find it. This is a wordless picture book, the design of the images included the circle shaped characters, pencil drawing and the use of varies of light colors. The style of drawing is simple and cute without much details on the objects. Because it is a wordless picture book, readers have to pay more attention of reading the details from the pictures provided, so the author chose a simple style of drawing to help the readers stay focused.
This book contains the light shades of color, which brings joyful and happiness. It was exciting when the two boys in the book saw each other by reading the same book. The author created a deep level plots in the book for readers to discover. The simple border and shape of the characters and settings in the book gave readers a happy feeling. Overall, this is a good wordless picture book, it is fun for young readers to read.

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fantastical adventure! A book about a magical book that ends up taking at least two people on an adventure. Told using only wonderfully illustrated pictures, this story is sure to delight readers of all ages and skills levels. A young person on his/her way to school finds a mysterious red book in a snowdrift and it ends up taking them to faraway lands.

This book is very useful for showing the importance of pictures for developing and strengthening a story. It can also spark some very interesting discussions about magic and fantasy. Because it is told without words, readers are able to interpret the book in their own way which a wonderful way to begin a class discussion.

I would highly recommend this book to readers of any age, and I am just waiting for a sequel to see how the man on the bicycle's adventure plays out!

[Erin Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wordless picture book based on the adventured of 'The Red Book' which is a key aspect of this story. I think it was a great addition to the wordlessness, having the world of the characters intertwine. It left me with questions and I interpreted it my own way which is why I think it's open to interpretation by many readers and can lead to discussions within class. The illustrations within the book are very simplistic which would suggest that the intended audience for this text is young children.
However, the book could be used in older years for children to create a narrative or complete a writing task on, based on the limited information you receive through the illustrations each child will interpret different aspects in their own way.

[Catie Currie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to have a love/hate relationship with wordless picture books. I don't really mind them so much anymore though, especially as they tend to be about fantastic, magical adventures that are best told with just images. My favorite is probably Flotsam, but this one has a great, magical element as well. The illustrations are much simpler than wordless picture books tend to be, but they get the point across.

[Cassie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book can be a little confusing and could have been better if the first have were as fluid as the end. However, there is a neat story here of two children who each view the other's life through a book.

Fun ending! The girl flies off on a team of balloons and lands on the boys island.

[Kaitlyn Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cool concept!

[Kristen Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is fun reading a book with no words. The kids loved telling me what they thought the story was.

[Julia Panebianco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awards: Caldecott Medal (2005)
Grade Level: 1st-4th grade

The Red book is about a little girl walking through the snowy city, who comes across a magical red book. She brings the book to school and discovers there is a little boy on a far-away island in the book. This little boy in the book also comes across a red book and sees the same little girl in the city. In the end, the book shows the little girl and boy coming together and meeting each other on the warm island, and then another person picking up the red book.

I think this is a wonderful and interesting book about friendship. It shows that no one ever is truly alone. If you just pick up a book you will have people and things around you, running through your imagination.

In-class uses:
-Have your students create their own red book.
-Make a list with your students predicting what would happen if the story continued.

[Beka Powers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Picture Book- Wordless Book
Awards: Caldecott Honor
Audience: Ages 5-10

Summary: The book begins with a lonely girl who finds a book in the snow. Inside the book, she sees a completely different place with a boy in it that can see her. She finds a friend in him and goes on an adventure that leaves the reader wondering.

a. This book is a wordless picture book because its pages only have pictures telling the story, no words.

b. The illustrator used certain color patterns and simple designs to contribute to the story. The child who finds the book is in a bland setting but finds a bright new adventure when opening the book. The illustrator used these elements of bland and illuminating colors to contrast the reality of life without adventure to finding adventures and life in a book.

c. I would want children to look at by themselves so they can make personal connections with the characters in the novel. A child who has never left their hometown may relate to this book more than a child who has traveled the country, so I think they should experience the book separately.

[Anna Varna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ένα σιωπηλό βιβλίο κατάλληλο για όλες τις ηλικίες γιατί η ιστορία φτιάχνεται μαζί με την ανάγνωση και σε κάποιες σκηνές του βιβλίου νιώθεις ότι αντικρίζεις στον καθρέφτη της σελίδας, τον εαυτό σου. Υπέροχο!