Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Henri's Walk to Paris is the story of a young boy who lives in Reboul, France, who dreams of going to Paris. One day, after reading a book about Paris, he decides to pack a lunch and head for the city.

"Like many of us Henri wants to see Paris.

In Paris, there are thousands of buses. In Reboul, where Henri lives, there is only one bus.

In Paris there are many parks and rows and rows of trees. The park in Reboul has only five trees. In Paris there are many zoos full of animals for the people to see.
So one fine day Henri packs up some lunch and starts off to see all the things he had read about."

Along the way, Henri gets tired and falls asleep under a tree. And this is when the story gets really charming. What Henri sees, we see, in a flowing panorama of pictures conceived by the eminent graphic designer Saul Bass.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

In graphic designer Bass's sole picture book, first published in 1962, his stylized collage prints pair with Klein's understated text to tell the story of a boy who dreams about traveling from his small town of Reboul to visit Paris. In Reboul, Henri lives in a little white house made up of two angular geometrical shapes, surrounded by a lush tapestry-like forest, and has three friends, Andre, Jacques, and Michel (they appear as three pairs of legs, fitted with pink pants, decoratively pattered socks, and green boots). Finally, Henri sets out walking to Paris, but when a bird interferes with his sense of direction, he gets turned around, discovering that "Paris" is an awful lot like Reboul. Bass plays with repetition (there's a strong symmetry to Henri's journey), text, and strong blocks of color, while using negative and positive space to toy with perception. Although the title character's face never appears, readers should gain a strong sense of Henri's identity from the sturdy storytelling and dramatic graphics. All ages. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.