Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

After laying her beloved dog to rest, a girl finds peace with a smooth stone that has traveled the world through the ages, in this wordless picture book by Becker.A young black girl collects flowers for her dog's grave before the family leaves for vacation. At their campsite, they set up by the shore. Night is falling as the girl finds a smooth stone at the water's edge. A pictorial transition leads to depictions of the stone's formation under the earth as dinosaurs roamed. When the stone, enormous in the beginning, protrudes from the earth, it is carried to an ancient royal building and carved. Wars, looting, decay, and repurposing send the stone from one civilization to another, to be used in a religious monument, a bridge, a work of art. The golden stone seems to glow against the shades of gray and beige in the historical scenes, and again against the dark purple and mauve of the night at camp. When a voyage ends in a shipwreck, the stone sinks to the bottom of the sea and is later carried to shore, where the girl finds it. She looks at peace as she presses the stone to her face, eyes closed. In the final scene, the stone sits on the dog's burial mound as the girl and her brother play. Readers will be enticed to explore this book's beautiful, dreamlike pictures, and the message of healing will comfort many who have known loss.Memorable and moving. (Picture book. 4-10)

ALA Booklist (Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2018)

Becker's wordless picture book, with its large, evocative digital illustrations, shows a story that begins with heartbreak. The tale opens with a family of four burying their family dog. The young daughter picks and lays golden flowers on top of the rock that marks Sascha's grave. When the family leaves for their vacation at the beach, the child is clearly sad that her pet will not be accompanying them. A major shift in time occurs at this point in the book to millions of years ago when a golden meteorite is seen flying toward Earth. The many metamorphoses of the orb are revealed as readers follow its history. It takes on a multitude of shapes and serves many purposes as it is transported to various countries across the globe, and eventually comes to the girl. Through the centuries, what was originally a large golden sphere is greatly reduced in size yet still serves an important purpose: to help ameliorate a young girl's grief over the loss of her beloved pet.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The first book in Becker's best-selling Journey trilogy snagged him a Caldecott Honor, and his fans are ready and waiting for this new stand-alone picture book.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

After laying her beloved dog to rest, a girl finds peace with a smooth stone that has traveled the world through the ages, in this wordless picture book by Becker.A young black girl collects flowers for her dog's grave before the family leaves for vacation. At their campsite, they set up by the shore. Night is falling as the girl finds a smooth stone at the water's edge. A pictorial transition leads to depictions of the stone's formation under the earth as dinosaurs roamed. When the stone, enormous in the beginning, protrudes from the earth, it is carried to an ancient royal building and carved. Wars, looting, decay, and repurposing send the stone from one civilization to another, to be used in a religious monument, a bridge, a work of art. The golden stone seems to glow against the shades of gray and beige in the historical scenes, and again against the dark purple and mauve of the night at camp. When a voyage ends in a shipwreck, the stone sinks to the bottom of the sea and is later carried to shore, where the girl finds it. She looks at peace as she presses the stone to her face, eyes closed. In the final scene, the stone sits on the dog's burial mound as the girl and her brother play. Readers will be enticed to explore this book's beautiful, dreamlike pictures, and the message of healing will comfort many who have known loss.Memorable and moving. (Picture book. 4-10)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Becker-s wordless epic starts as a family of color-mother, father, daughter, son-bury their dog, Sascha. The daughter puts flowers on the grave, and then the four set off on a trip to the beach, where the girl is seen standing at the water-s edge under a starry sky. Now the action shifts. In narrow, fast-moving panels, a meteor hurtles deep into the earth, a geological upthrust of a strange yellow stone results, and small human figures are seen quarrying it and carving it into an obelisk. Over the centuries, the stone is destroyed, fitted into a bridge, rescued from a debris pile, fashioned into a chest, brought to an island, and lost in the ocean, where at last, polished by the waves, it-s discovered-by the girl. In contrast to the watercolors of his Journey series, Becker uses digitally manipulated pastel strokes to give his spreads a thick, supersaturated feel. Yet, as in his previous work, the satisfaction flows from enchanting views of action that unfolds in fanciful scenes that range across time and cultures. Remnants of ancient history, readers will realize, may lie very close at hand, and, Becker suggests, perhaps nothing is ever truly lost. Ages 5-9. Agent: Linda Pratt, Wernick & Pratt Agency. (May)