The Return

October 18, 2019

Gr 2-5-Emotions run deep when someone returns home after a long time away. A yellow bus traverses a busy town before venturing into a forest and finally to a house in the middle of a wide open space. A girl steps out of the bus, looking like Alice in Wonderland as she stands several times larger than the house before her. She embraces a tiny older woman who proceeds to make dinner. The first bite shrinks the girl to be smaller than the woman: a child once again. This wordless picture book uses simple, poignant imagery to tell the story of a young woman who has returned home. While she at first feels as though she has outgrown her childhood home, she quickly realizes that the child who grew up there will always be part of her. The illustrations are primarily in black and white, with brushstrokes plainly visible on each page. Occasional accents of red and yellow highlight specific elements of each image, drawing readers' attention to change and emotion. Though this is a picture book, the message resonates most strongly with older readers who empathize with the feeling of returning home after experiencing the world as an adult. VERDICT Readers of all ages will enjoy working together to craft a story and dialogue to accompany the emotional imagery of this book.-Mary Lanni, formerly at Denver Public Library

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 15, 2019
A young adult comes home in Chernysheva's uplifting wordless picture book. A lone house stands beside an outstretched tree in a vast, empty field. The light-skinned traveler boards a yellow bus, its driver just a mere shadow. The yellow bus makes its way through the crowded streets of Moscow as buildings and churches loom overhead in a mishmash of lines and blank spaces. On and on the bus goes until it deposits the traveler onto that vast, empty field to make the way to the house, where a small figure tends the garden. The gardener--a parent or grandparent, perhaps--looks up. The giant traveler towers over the minuscule gardener in a series of double-page spreads that play with space and perspective in unusual ways. Chernysheva's plain, mostly colorless artwork maintains a focus on the long journey and eventual reunion thanks to the book's languid pace. Color (primarily red and yellow) emerges during seemingly minor yet significant moments, drawing attention to each character's love for the other. A deep embrace and a sweet kiss to the cheek cement the relationship between the two adults. The old gardener stirs up a pot of warm stew, and the traveler (now the size of a child) sits down amid the garden. As comforting as a home-cooked meal. (Picture book. 4-7)

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