Looking for a Round Trip Ticket

This week's K-2 book clues for I Love to Read month have proven quite challenging for readers...a surprise since all five copies of the book are usually checked out from the collection. When I used it as a read-aloud selection two years ago, we talked about book design and alternatives to the traditional picture book. Not only were our library copies in demand; the public library copies were reserved for several weeks.

Here is the clue from Monday:

"We started out as soon as it was light. Our neighborhood was quiet, the houses dark. The sun shone on the pond."

Soon after morning announcements, a student perfectly described the book to me - minus the title. He said things about flipping the book around to view the illustrations a different way and about there being a trip. Being the clue creator, I could give no hints, but I encouraged him to use some of his words to do a keyword search. A few minutes later, he located the book and confirmed his guess.

A few correct guesses have come in this week. Just a few. Today's clue was this:

"We took the tunnel under the river, and soon saw our moonlit street. Home again."

I read aloud to a fifth grade class this afternoon. They loved Eoin Colfer's "Artemis Begins" but then asked for information about the K-2 book. They listed what they knew, and again, I suggested they do some searching in the catalog. In minutes, after looking up "trip" and locating the book, they confirmed their guess. What motivation they had to find the book!

If you are still stumped, the answer is...

Round Trip by Ann Jonas