Journey

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What you have here is a wordless storybook. It is, I would suggest, more a work of art, a collection of linked paintings that tell a story. Our main character (nameless), seeks refuge from her disconnected life in the adventures she creates with her red crayon. Sound like a book we've all read and loved? Stay with me. She journeys, with her crayon, into a beautifully imagined world and an adventure. I really don't want to ruin the BRILLIANT (boy how I wish FB would let me italicize) twist ending, but I will say that this is so much more than an homage to HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, it is an extension of it, a tribute to it, a joining of worlds. Use the title as the starting point for your own story. What might your own story about a ‘Journey’ include? How wordless picture books like Journey can be used to develop children’s oral storytelling abilities

trying to save a vibrant lilac bird which has been imprisoned. Disaster strikes when, having freed the bird, she is caught by angry guards who throw away her Tell each other what you can see in each others pictures (rather than describing your own) and discuss what kind of a world you think theirs is. What emotions do you think the girl is feeling? How can we tell? (This gives an opportunity to talk about body language. Younger children might want to show you physically by copying the girl’s body language and showing the expression they imagine on her face)

There are no words in the book, just pictures. And what amazing pictures they are! They're incredibly detailed, yet also simple. It looks like the illustrator used a variety of materials to create the pictures. Throughout much of the book, cool and muted colours are used, so the touches of red really stand out. There's also a steampunk-ish flavour to some of the illustrations, which I wasn't expecting (but which I really liked). Why do people sometimes go on special journeys as part of their religion? Can you find out more about these? Create a video that shows the illustrations in the book and is accompanied by your own narration / speech.

Look at the different characters in the story. Can you create your own illustrations of them? This video has some tips from the author / illustrator:

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Extension Challenge: Children could be asked whether they can find more than one solution. How will they know whether another solution is the same or different to any they have already got? How will they know that they have found all the solutions? This week, we are going to start on our new topic of Journeys, a topic that the whole school will be working on together. This term KS1 planning will be much more closely aligned. If you also have a child in Year 1 you will notice that the tasks are often the same, just slightly differentiated to suit the different year groups. In a large, clear space, explore repetitive motions before creating a giant working ‘machine’ by combining individual actions. Start with a single child before adding each new motion to the whole.

Why not record the stories that emerge and make a collection of books to accompany them? These can be shared with another class or added to your own reading corner. Or you can record descriptions of single spreads and ask children to listen before matching each description to its picture. The entire story is told through pictures full of magical detail. The colour red stands for play, imagination and doorways to enchantment. As the journey progresses, the colour mauve also comes into its own...

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Learners could also use the cards to make a shape (not necessarily a triangle) where the touching numbers add to 9 (or 8 or 11). Alternatively, they could add their own choice of numbers to these blank triangles to create their own activity. Look at the picture showing the girl in her bedroom. Can you see things that make an appearance later in the book? Sometimes ideas for stories come easily, other times they need a bit of help.