Red Wagon [Board book]

A simple story about complex imaginations, now in board book!

All Lucy wants to do is play with her brand-new, bright red wagon. But her mother has other plans for her-and the wagon. Lucy must go to the market and buy vegetables for dinner. Lucy doesn't want to do chores! But she sets off for the market nonetheless, hauling her red wagon with her. Before long, her ordinary trip becomes a high-seas adventure, a ride through outer space, and a day at the circus. As long as she has her red wagon, not even chores can get in the way of Lucy's fun.

Renata Liwska's vibrant art takes center stage in this imaginative book for the youngest of readers, just the way it  did in her award-winning,New York Timesbestselling titlesThe Quiet BookandThe Loud Book!, both written by Deborah Underwood."This title owes its delight to the well-balanced, deadpan disparity between the spare, straightforward text and the increasingly wild scenarios depicted in the digitally colored pencil illustrations. According to the words, the animals climb a hill, weather some rain, load up at the market, regroup after hitting a rock, and return home. The pictures, however, show a different story: along the way, the red wagon transforms from pirate ship to covered wagon to circus caravan to train to rocket ship to truck in detailed scenes children will want to revisit. Preschoolers will recognize the reality-blurring borders of their own made-up worlds; children on the cusp of independent reading will enjoy following the simple, bold-type sentences; and both audiences will hope for future adventures from Lucy and her friends. —Booklist, starred review

"Liwska renders the illustrations in soft-hued pencil and digital coloring, similar in style to those she created for Deborah Underwood'sThe Quiet Book. Adding to the quality of this gentle yet adventurous tale is the way the illustrations provide an imaginative allC6