The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard

The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard by Gregory Rogers, Roaring Brook Press 2004

This book is absolutely brilliant! It is a wordless book that will pick you up, pull you in and carry you through the story. The boy kicks his soccer ball through the window of a boarded up old theater. After retrieving his ball he discovers a box of costumes which he tries on and tries out on the theater stage. Something happens and suddenly he is on the stage of a theater (the Globe?) and William Shakespeare is tripping on his soccer ball. The chase is on through old London. The boy liberates a bear from a cage, a baron from the Tower of London, and dances with Queen Elizabeth I on a barge on the Thames, all while being pursued by a cranky Shakespeare. The drawings are detailed and change perspective. One moment you are running through the streets of London with the boy and the next you have a view of him and the city from high above. When the story ended, I felt like I had dropped out of time too, quite a feat for a picture book.