Ward returned to the United States in September 1927, with a number of book publishers in his portfolio . In 1928, his first commissioned work illustrated Dorothy Rowe's "The Begging Deer: Stories of Japanese Children" with eight brush drawings. May helped with background research for the illustrations, and wrote another book of Japanese folk tales, "Prince Bantam" (1929), with illustrations by Ward. Other work at the time included illustrations for the children's book "" by Hildegarde Swift, and an illustrated edition of Oscar Wilde's poem "Ballad of Reading Gaol".