Book picks similar to
Rocket Boy by Damon Lehrer


wordless
picture-books
imagination
picture-book

The Wonderful Things You Will Be


Emily Winfield Martin - 2015
    . . now and forever!   From brave and bold to creative and clever, Emily Winfield Martin's rhythmic rhyme expresses all the loving things that parents think of when they look at their children. With beautiful, and sometimes humorous, illustrations, and a clever gatefold with kids in costumes, this is a book grown-ups will love reading over and over to kids—both young and old. A great gift for any occasion, but a special stand-out for baby showers, birthdays, and graduation. The Wonderful Things You Will Be has a loving and truthful message that will endure for lifetimes.

Wallpaper


Thao Lam - 2018
    It tells the story of a young girl whose family moves into a new house. Outside, she can hear other kids playing, but she’s too shy to say hello. So she picks at the old wallpaper in her room―revealing an entryway to a fantastic imaginary adventure world behind the walls.

Bedtime Blastoff!


Luke Reynolds - 2016
    A boy. His daddy. "Bedtime?""Not yet!"A jet. . . A pilot. . . His turbo-boost!A train. . . A conductor. . . His full-steam-ahead!

Moon Plane


Peter McCarty - 2006
    A young boy sees a plane overhead and imagines himself in it, traveling all the way to the moon. What does he see on his way?  With characteristically spare prose, Caldecott Honor winner Peter McCarty invites readers along for an imaginary trip from the earth to the moon and back again, visiting trains, planes, and boats along the way. McCarty's luminous illustrations make the boy's fantasy into a dreamlike journey that ends in his mother's arms, a perfect way to end the day. Moon Plane is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

The First Drawing


Mordicai Gerstein - 2013
    Imagine you were born before the invention of drawing, more than thirty thousand years ago.You would live with your whole family in a cave and see woolly mammoths walk by!You might even see images of animals hidden in the shapes of clouds and rocks.You would want to share these pictures with your family, but wouldn't know how.Who would have made the world's first drawing? Would it have been you? In The First Drawing, Caldecott Medal winner Mordicai Gerstein imagines the discovery of drawing...and inspires the young dreamers and artists of today.

Round Trip


Ann Jonas - 1983
    The trip to the city is read from front to back and the return trip from back to front, upside down.

Float


Daniel Miyares - 2015
    A boy.A boat.A rainy day.An adventure.A boy's small paper boat and his large imagination fill the pages of this wordless picture book, a modern-day classic from the creator of Pardon Me! that includes endpaper instructions for building a boat of your own.This seemingly simple story from Daniel Miyares is enriched with incredible depth and texture that transcend words.

Field Trip to the Moon


John L. Hare - 2019
    Once they land, students debark and set out with their teacher to explore. They jump over trenches and see craters and mountains on the moon's surface and even Earth in the faraway distance. One student takes a break to draw some pictures, falls asleep, and wakes up to discover that the rest of the class and the spaceship are gone. How the student passes the time waiting to be rescued makes for a funny and unexpected adventure that will enchant children all over the galaxy.

Rules of Summer


Shaun Tan - 2013
    Each spread tells of an event and the lesson learned. By turns, these events become darker and more sinister as the boys push their games further and further.

Zoom


Istvan Banyai - 1995
    But if you think you know where you are, guess again. For nothing is ever as it seems in Istvan Banyai's sleek, mysterious landscapes of pictures within pictures, which will tease and delight readers of all ages. "This book has the fascinating appeal of such works of visual trickery as the Waldo and Magic Eye books." —Kirkus Reviews "Ingenious." —The Horn Book

10 Minutes till Bedtime


Peggy Rathmann - 1998
    It's off to the kitchen for a snack, to the bathroom for toothbrushing, to the bedroom for a story. And just as the child begins to read, the tour guide looks out the window and shouts, "More coming!" Busloads and carloads of vacationing hamsters stream through the front door, and the escapades accelerate from one action-packed page to the next, as the countdown continues.

Fly!


Mark Teague - 2019
    Mama bird thinks Baby bird is finally ready to leave the nest and learn to fly so he can migrate south with the rest of their flock. But Baby bird isn’t so sure. Can’t his mother keep bringing him worms in their nest? Can’t he migrate in a hot air balloon instead? Or perhaps a car?

La La La: A Story of Hope


Kate DiCamillo - 2017
    "La la la . . . la." A little girl stands alone and sings, but hears no response. Gathering her courage and her curiosity, she skips farther out into the world, singing away to the trees and the pond and the reeds -- but no song comes back to her. Day passes into night, and the girl dares to venture into the darkness toward the light of the moon, becoming more insistent in her singing, climbing as high as she can, but still there is silence in return. Dejected, she falls asleep on the ground, only to be awakened by an amazing sound. . . . She has been heard. At last.

Mitchell's License


Hallie Durand - 2011
    He may need a little boost getting into the driver’s seat, but once he’s behind the wheel, his car sure goes fast! Left turn, right turn, slow down for speed bumps - Mitchell is a pro. And he loves the way that horn sounds! There’s just one problem: Mitchell and his car have a slight disagreement about what type of fuel should go into the tank. . . . With warmth and sly wit, Hallie Durand follows a young child obsessed with all things automobile, while Tony Fucile’s comical illustrations convey the well-tuned bond between an obliging father and a high-octane child.

I Love the Rain


Margaret Park Bridges - 2005
    The gray sky, the soggy wait for the school bus, they seem to make everyone grumpy. Everyone except her friend Sophie, who shows Molly the magic she has been missing.The simple, poetic language in this lovely book takes readers on a journeyfrom the girls' first tentative steps into the drizzle to a rain-drenched romp in a puddle. The lyrical text is perfectly matched by the joyful watercolor paintings, which capture not only the color and beauty of a rainy day, but the warm interactions of the girls' blossoming friendship. An exuberant homage to finding pleasure where it's unexpected, the power of imagination, and the joys of friendship, I Love the Rain will have readers singing, "Sun, sun, go away!"