Road Adventures written and illustrated by Nazli Tahvili.
This ingenious picture book by author and illustrator Nazli Tahvili will ignite children's imaginations while bringing a dose of nostalgia to adult readers.
Although wordless, the reader understands that a child is leaving her house and getting in a car with a couple. Are they her parents? Friends? Relatives? That is up to the reader to decide. The smiles on everyone's faces let the reader know that this is a welcomed trip. As such the adventure begins...
The almost monochrome illustrations, except for brief moments of pink, blue, and black, show the countless and varied transmission towers a child observes on her road trip. As the blue car traverses bare landscape, transmission towers of all shapes, heights, and numbers of circuits take the form of animals, birds, and soldiers. Throughout the car ride, they become more and more animated until a battle ensues. Who are the sides? Why are they fighting? These answers are left to the reader who is quite literally in the main character's head as the story plays out and who gets to determine how it all ends... Indeed, there are no words until the end when Tahvili invites the readers to draw the final scene.
The countless story possibilities make Road Adventures a book families of all ages will enjoy before and during their next car, bus, or train trips.
Imagine It!
The next time you are in a car for a short trip to school or to the store, look out the window and count how many electrical towers you pass. Did you imagine there were so many?
The next time you are in a car for a longer trip, maybe to a grandparent's house or on vacation, look closely at the electrical towers. What do you see? People, animals, birds, castles...?
Imagine the possibilities!
What story could you tell to yourself and to other people in the car?
Imagine this game:
One person starts by pointing out a tower and identifying it as a character.
For example: A lost cat.
Another car rider characterizes the next tower or describes what the first character is doing there.
For example: The cat drank some magic milk and grew to the size of a building.
The first person or another person in the car then gets to a) characterize a new tower b) describe what a previous character(s) is doing or c) give the character(s) a problem to solve.
For example: The cat can see for miles! He wants to find his home...
The next person, whether they've had a turn or not, chooses to a) characterize a new tower b) describe what a previous character(s) is doing or c) give the character(s) a problem to solve or d) invent an obstacle that will make the problem very hard to solve.
For ex: The cat sees his house in the distance, but he is too big to ever return.
You can go around as many times as you wish with the above options until someone can create a satisfying ending.
Imagine how quickly the time will fly!