Fantastic Friday: Where's Walrus?

Where's Walrus? 
by Stephen Savage
Scholastic Press, 2011.
ISBN13: 9780439700498
Reviewed from purchased copy 

Walrus is bored at the zoo in which he lives and sneaks out to find some excitement.  The zookeeper pursues him from place to place.  Walrus disguises himself as he moves from fountain to diner to storefront window to construction site and several other places before ending up at a diving competition.  The zookeeper finally lures the walrus back by providing a pool with a diving board allowing him to showcase his prowess.

I shared this book with my kindergartners today and they enjoyed it immensely.  I had several requests afterwords by students who wanted to check it out.  The book is wordless, telling the story completely through the illustrations and the children got a big kick out of helping me make up the story to go with the pictures.  The book also provides a great opportunity to discuss how illustrators use different art techniques to focus the readers attention.  Savage does a great job of using color, diagonal lines, white space, and shapes to guide the reader's eyes where he wishes them to go. This book is a delightful read-a-loud and I recommend it highly.