The Elevator

“Every trip changes us, even a trip on the elevator.”

A girl and her dog begin their afternoon walk. But before they can get outside to the street, they must take the elevator in their apartment building. She presses the button to go down, but the elevator goes up. Who called it? Is it broken? As the reader turns the page, the girl arrives at different floors, where new friendships are made, old stories are told, and a surprise is revealed. Beautiful human connections filled with kindness and empathy happen in this elevator in what would usually be a routine encounter.

White Ravens Award, International Youth Library, Munich, 2020

Winner of the Best Illustration at the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival 2019

Laureate “Image of the Book” Best Picture Book at the XII International Contest for Book Illustration and Design, Moscow, 2019

Playful book design and illustrations created with drawing, collage, and photography, this is the debut publication in the US of Argentinian author and illustrator Yael Frankel, who transforms simple everyday moments into whimsical stories.