Jonas, Ann. Round trip. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, original publication 1983, 2005 Chinese version by Bardin-Chinese Media Agency. 32 pages. Print. ISBN: 986-7428-35-8. Picture Book. Ages 3 and up. No official website.
Round trip is a book about a family's trip to the city starting from early day as the sun is rising to their return at night via a moonlit street.
It is a clever book that actually becomes a journey within itself because the completion of the book is actually only half the book. The trip home requires the book to be read by turning it upside down and reading from the back to the beginning. The black and white illustrations give this book an added bonus as it introduces young children to fairly complex optical illusions. Children and other viewers will love turning the book upside down and right side up to see how the illusions work. Perception changes seemingly clear images. The sun shining on a pond becomes the full moon peeking through clouds, birds in flight become the street, a small farm's fields become a stormy sky, the pillars for a bridge become the telephone poles on a street, sparkling water becomes a starry sky, and so on. Some might be too complex for young children to identify. Fortunately, the simple storyline identifies the scenery for parents/caregivers to point out. This book can be added to a personal collection and revisited throughout the years. This is a recreational book that will help stimulate a child's creativity and ability to see objects that are not always easy.
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