Personal response:

A young boy in Paris finds a red balloon. They bounce around, but the balloon is not permitted on the bus, in school, at home, or in church. Some bullies want it, and eventually they kidnap it. It is busted, the boy is sad, but his balloon friend is avenged by all the balloons in Paris, who leave their posts and rally to the boy. They entwine their cords and become a huge bunch, then carry the boy off around the world. The book is large and rectangular, with photos as illustrations, sometimes in color and sometimes not. The words are printed in different places on the pages; sometimes on top, bottom, or beside the pictures. Some pages have only a photo.

Cirriculum/programming connections:

This would be a good book to read to children at a storytime. One could use the book without reading the text, as the pictures tell the story effectively. It could also be used in a unit on other country, with the illustrations showing differences in locales.

An all-text version of Lamorisse's famous red balloon story. About a lonely boy called Pascal who finds a red balloon which has a mind of its own and follows him all over Paris -- and the two of them have adventures. ( )