The Yellow Balloon

The Yellow Balloon
By:  Charlotte Dematons
Published by:  Lemniscaat b.v. Rotterdam
Picture Books

                                                                The Yellow Balloon

     The Yellow Balloon is a wordless picture book that takes the reader on a journey. As the reader you are taken to various time periods, places, and legends around the world. I do not recognize the author but it is obvious that the illustrations are done in some kind of painting.
     The illustrations are very small and detailed. To be honest, I think that too much is going on in each page. For example on one page there is a highway, a Native American community, farm fields, horse ranch, and a castle. Personally I wish the author would have stuck with one place in different periods or one period in different places for each page. What is cool about the illustrations is that the view is from an Arial perspective. It makes you feel as if you are the yellow balloon that is flying in the sky.
    I would not say that this book builds reading skills, however, I would like to have it in my library. I think that students like to look at pictures and would have fun trying to find the reappearing blue car, yellow balloon, flying carpet, and prisoner in the pages. I also think that there is a lot for them to look at, since there is so much detail in each page. It may even prompt interest in learning about one of the time periods or places they find in the book.