Vacation

The enigmatic visual storytelling of French artist Blexbolex’s Ballad (2013) is more prominent than ever in this reality-bending wordless outing, which can be read as an extended picture book or as a graphic novel. In silk screens that call to mind Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo comics, readers meet a dark-haired girl exploring the woods outside her grandfather’s stately home. She’s abruptly summoned back to the house and is unhappy about the interruption; Blexbolex uses inset panels to move the action forward or bridge time and distance—in this case, a circular panel shows the girl’s grandfather calling to her. Her mood doesn’t improve after they pick up a new arrival at the train station—a small golf-club-toting elephant, whom the girl treats like a disliked relative. Their emotive squabbles form the brunt of the book, leading the elephant to disappear in a storm and require a rescue. Tracking the action calls for careful attention as the story dips in and out of dreams and imagined journeys. Puzzle-loving readers will adore teasing out the book’s mysteries, and many more will simply want to lose themselves in its enchanting images. Ages 8–up. [em](Mar.) [/em]