Drawn Onward by Daniel Nayeri, Matt Rockefeller on October 8, 2024
ISBN: 0063277166
Genres: Adventure, Emotions & Feelings, Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Juvenile Fiction / Action & Adventure / General, Magical Realism, Poetry
Format: Picture Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
Drawn Onward, by Daniel Nayeri, and extraordinary illustrations by Matt Rockefeller, is a near-wordless picture book with a heavy influence of The Legend of Zelda. Nayeri gives us the story of a boy grieving the loss of his mother. In this lush, fantasy world, the boy is tasked with gathering ingredients from a recipe his mother used to make. His father is surprised as the boy angrily bursts out the door to go on a quest. What is next, is a fantastically illustrated journey of grief and finding oneself, and then returning home and finding the love that’s there.
The title is a palindrome, the sparse text that is included in the book is a palindrome, and the arc of the story and the elements in the illustrations are palindromes themselves. The entire book mirrors the wave of grief and a “v” like structure of leaving, the moment of finding, and returning home. Unfortunately, it took me almost five entire reads through and a deep dive on the internet to understand this, remotely.
It’s an extraordinary tale with an important message about grief, as well as unbelievable illustrations by Rockefeller. Highly recommended for upper elementary students, given the complexity. It’s clear that a massive amount of work was put into this publication, but the creative use of the palindrome text within the pages actually made the story more difficult to understand. With graphic novel style panels, it seems like it might have been better geared more towards graphic novel readers.
Some kids and educators will love this, and others will be daunted by it. Overall, it is meant to be explored and read multiple times. It is meant to be flipped through and examined from cover to cover. With such deep themes of love and death, I wonder if typical picture-book-aged children might find it overwhelming.
Reviewed by Gia Charles, Patten Free Library, Bath