Where Do Balloons Go? An Uplifting Mystery [Library Binding]

Jamie Lee Curtis (Author), Laura Cornell (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 2000 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Haven't you ever wondered ...

Where do balloons go
when you let them go free?
It can happen by accident.
It happened to me.

Do they tango with airplanes?
Or cha-cha with birds?
Can plain balloons read
balloons printed with words?

When one little boy accidentally lets go of his balloon, his imagination takes him on its journey.

Jamie Lee Curtis's gentle and humorous exploration of the joys and perils of a balloon's life is whimsically brought to life by Laura Cornell's illustrations. From the best-selling author-illustrator team of Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods that Make My Day comes another delightful mystery about letting go.

Includes cool reusable stickers and two play areas!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Anyone who has ever let go of a balloon string and watched the bright object go up and up and out of sight will appreciate this whimsical picture book that ponders the age-old question Where Do Balloons Go? This "uplifting mystery"--examined in singsong rhyme by Jamie Lee Curtis and playfully explored with Roz Chast-like illustrations by Laura Cornell--is a new offering from the team behind Today I Feel Silly, When I Was Little, and Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born.

Where do they go
when they float far away?
Do they ever catch cold
and need somewhere to stay?

"Do they tango with airplanes? / Or cha-cha with birds? / Can plain balloons read / balloons printed with words?" Cornell's splashy colorful spreads (one which folds out to four full pages) pop with plenty of witty details. One balloon, for example, waits nervously with a suitcase outside the Bates Motel. In a balloon-ridden urban scenario, advertisements promote balloon-friendly services such as "The Detanglers, professionals since 1934." This exuberant book will have you half-believing that balloons are people, too. A page of vinyl reusable stickers in the back can be used on the sky-and-cloud wash on the front endpaper, or the space-scape (complete with comets) on the back endpaper. Next time your child's balloon drifts away, it'll be much easier for him or her to imagine it dancing in Bolivia than caught up in phone wires! (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

This far-fetched tale by the creators of Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day may well raise youngsters' spirits as verse and art muse fancifully on the possible fates of wayward balloons. Cornell casts the balloons in human roles as the young narrator, a boy who has accidentally let go of his balloon's string, wonders, "Where do they go when they float far away? Do they ever catch cold and need somewhere to stay?" The zany accompanying cartoon pictures show a balloon sitting on the couch in a doctor's waiting room and another approaching a hotel, its string attached to a suitcase. In other scenarios, balloons dine in a restaurant, write postcards home and "cha-cha with birds" on the wing of an airplane, culminating in a four-page fold-out spread of "a big balloon dance." Bursting with color and balloons of all shapes, sizes and functions (many balloons making encore appearances bear clever messages or advertisements), Cornell's busy art provides ample diversion for young readers. Though not as memorable as some of the collaborators' earlier work, this volume, like the high-flying balloon that sets a boy's imagination soaring, is way out thereAin a kid-pleasing way. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (October 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060279818
• ISBN-13: 978-0060279813
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,589,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jamie Lee Curtis is the author of eight best-selling children's books that address core childhood subjects and life lessons in a playful, accessible way. Jamie finds the inspiration for her writing all around her - in the experiences of her children, her godchildren, her friends - and of course in her own life. Her first book, When I Was Little, was sparked by her then-four-year-old daughter's boast that she was no longer "little." Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, a celebration of adoption and the start of a new family, was inspired by the adoption of her own children. And as an author, of course Jamie loves big words and knows that words have power. Her latest book, Big Words for Little People, gives young children the knowledge and power of their own "big words." All of Jamie's best-selling picture books are illustrated by Laura Cornell: Big Words for Little People; Is There Really A Human Race?; It's Hard To Be Five: Learning How To Work My Control Panel; I'm Gonna Like Me: Letting Off A Little Self Esteem; Where Do Balloons Go? An Uplifting Mystery; Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day; Tell Me Again About The Night I Was Born; and When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old's Memoir of Her Youth. Jamie is also well known as a film actress, with starring roles in such acclaimed films as Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Freaky Friday, True Lies, Trading Places and A Fish Called Wanda. Jamie is the mother of Annie and Thomas and is married to actor/director Christopher Guest. They live in California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful, Colorful Book, September 24, 2000

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where Do Balloons Go? An Uplifting Mystery (Hardcover)

That dynamic duo, Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell ponder the age-old question, Where Do Balloons Go?, in their fourth collaboration of the same name. Written in rhyme, Curtis' gentle, witty, imaginative story will delight and amuse children of all ages as they explore the possibilities of what might happen when you let go of a balloon. "Do they tango with airplanes? Or cha-cha with birds? Can plain balloons read balloons printed with words?" Cornell's busy, expressive illustrations add just the right touch to this wonderful story and will keep youngsters entranced reading after reading as they find new hidden pictures and scenes. This is a real gem of a book, the whole family will enjoy, that is sure to become a classic in years to come.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful way to discuss Heaven w/a child, July 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Where Do Balloons Go? An Uplifting Mystery (Hardcover)

I've read many reviews of this book, yet none mention the book was written as an analogy for death and heaven. I first heard of the book during an interview on TV w/Jamie Lee Curtis. Jamie Lee Curtis said she wrote it after the death of a very close friend. It's a very abstract way of talking about where people go after they pass away. It is one of the best books on this subject for young children that I have found. I send this book to friends as a gift when they have experienced a loss in their lives. It has always meant a lot to the people who have received it.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Uplifting Mystery!, September 11, 2000

By 

Xeneri - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where Do Balloons Go? An Uplifting Mystery (Hardcover)

Jamie Lee Curtis (actress, author and mom) and Laura Cornell (illustrator) let their imaginations run wild as they explore the possibilities (Are there balloon cities? Balloons in space?)

The humor is gentle and a touch sly (adults will recognize such in-jokes like a nervous balloon waiting near the Bates Motel from the movie PSYCHO - a nod to Ms Curtis's mom, Janet Leigh, who was in the film.)

This is the fourth book from this creative duo and is probably my favorate so far! A must for the inquisitive child, it also includes cool reusable stickers with a little play area in the back of the book.