Turpin the taxi-driving mouse picks up his first fare of the day and begins his wordless adventure. Driving the lady with the red beret goes smoothly, but the mysterious man in the black cap and top hat leaves his red scarf in the backseat, and Turpin tries to follow him into a circus tent to return it. Once inside, Turpin barely escapes being done in by the lion-taming act, the fire juggler, and other circus performances rife with danger for small mice. Governor General’s Literary Award–Children’s Illustration, TD Canadian Chil dren’s Literature Award. lvb

Originally published as L’Escharpe Rouge in French by Les 400 Coups Canada, in 1999.

Amazing stories can be told with almost no words, as Anne Villeneuve demonstrates in The Red Scarf, originally published in French as L’echarpe rouge.

One day, a taxi driver finds a red scarf left behind in his cab by a customer. Determined to find the scarf’s owner, the cabbie unknowingly walks into a world filled with strange characters: a friendly lizard, a mischievous bear, a fearsome lion and his tamer, a daredevil, and a mysterious magician. Before he knows it, the cabbie becomes part of the show. Young readers will relish this almost wordless picture book about a seemingly ordinary day, which quickly turns into an extraordinary adventure.