5 Buoyant Balloon-Themed Picture Books

It’s Tough to Lose Your Balloon, by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
This colorful book with kids drawn in endearing line squiggles addresses how kids can look at some of the calamities of childhood from a more positive perspective. “It’s tough to lose your balloon…” Krosoczka begins, “…but it’ll make Grandma smile from the sky,” as we see the red balloon sail past the airplane Grandma is riding in. Krosoczka looks on the bright side of such mishaps as a sandwich dropped on the beach sand (“it’ll make some seagulls very happy”) and broken toys (“you’ll have fun fixing it with Grandpa”) and encourages kids to look for the rainbow after the rain.

Balloonia, by Audrey Wood
Sister Jessica and brother Matthew are playing with balloons before it’s time to go to bed. Matthew releases his red balloon out the window and tells his sister it’s going to Balloonia, a country where balloons live, “just beyond the clouds.” Jessica is reluctant to let her yellow balloon go, but Matthew urges her to release it so it can live forever. If she keeps it, it will shrivel up. Jessica refuses, but as she drifts asleep, she finds herself turning into a balloon herself, and floating off to Balloonia, where everything is made of balloons.

The Red Balloon, by A. Lamorisse
The Red Balloon is a 1956 French short film about a Parisian boy’s friendship with his red balloon. The film stills make for a charming picture book. Pascal is a lonely little boy who lives with his scrupulous mother in an apartment in Paris. She won’t allow him to have a pet, but one day he finds a red balloon tethered to a street lamp. The balloon causes him all kinds of misadventures, and when he’s late and his mom throws the balloon out the window to punish him, the balloon stays there by his window. Pascal discovers the balloon is trained to follow him—yet it still maintains a mischievous streak. As the boy encounters bullies and other troubles, Lamorisse’s story cuts to the heart of childhood joys and sorrows.

Three Magic Balloons, by Paul Margulies and Grant Shaffer
In the preface to this story, the actress Julianna Margulies and her sisters Rachel and Alexandra explain that their father used to tell them stories when they were kids, and published several children’s books. After he died, they found this story in his papers, and asked a friend to illustrate it. Three Magic Balloons stars three sisters whose father takes them to the zoo every week, and gives them money to buy whatever they’d like. Instead of spending it on themselves, they use it to buy food for the animals. One day the balloon man notices their generosity, and gives them each a magic balloon, telling them to tie the balloons to their beds that night. That night, the balloons take them off on a fantasitic adventure in the sky. Shaffer’s whimsical, energetic drawings make this story soar.

A Voyage in the Clouds: The (Mostly) True Story of the First International Flight by Balloon in 1785, by Matthew Olshan and Sophie Blackall
Many fictional balloon picture books—including three of those mentioned above—feature balloons that carry kids into the air. This (mostly) nonfiction book makes a nice compliment, detailing the era when hot air balloons were the cutting edge of air travel. Matthew Olshan tells the wacky story of Dr. John Jeffries, who decides to fly a hot air balloon over the English Channel to France. Jeffries’ bickering with his pilot Monsieur Blanchard, and their stripping to their underwear to lighten the load, enhances the comedy. Sophie Blackall’s wonderful illustrations are done in a throwback-to-18th-century cartooning style that captures the hysteria perfectly.