The Garden of Inside-Outside

Written by Chiara Mezzalama

 

Illustrated by Régis Lejonc

 

ISBN 978-1-911496-16-8

 

Published by Book Island

 

Reviewed by Karl Andy Foster

 

Publisher’s website https://www.bookisland.co.uk/products/the-garden-of-inside-outside?_pos=1&_sid=bf411036a&_ss=r

 

Illustrator’s website https://www.ricochet-jeunes.org/auteurs/regis-lejonc

 

Review

 

This is a story that sets out its context carefully as the events that surround and impact upon our young protagonist Chiara requires sensitive handling. A memoir framed against a turbulent period in the history of the middle east evokes the author’s remembrances of things past.

 

With similarities to a propaganda poster the cover of this graphic novel shows two children linking hands in a beautiful garden. Above their heads and outside the inside is the image of the Ayatollah Khamenei in ominous red and black. The paper stock also adds to this quality. On some pages there is not the conventual linear story but instead images that could be self-contained and work in their own right.

 

Throughout the story at the top of the pages we see either the word OUTSIDE in red to indicate danger or INSIDE in green for the more peaceful moments. Towards the end both OUTSIDE and INSIDE are shown together once another child Massoud enters the garden. Through their interactions the children process the realities of the world outside. They shape their fears into adventures and shared values into friendship.

 

The illustrations in this book remind me of linocuts or wood block printing. The limited palette of green, blue, red, yellow with black outlines helps to reinforce this impression. From arches to decorative tile work, from illustrated carpets to lush vegetation gone wild the line work is fluid and flows well. The drawing style is a combination of the powerful details found in David B.’s work and the graphic boldness of Marjane Satrapi’s illustrations.

 

This is a delightful story about friendship in unusual circumstances. Based on the biographical events of the author’s life and set during a time of revolution and war, it is the precious moments that cement our personalities and create the myths of our early years. At the end of this story there is a moment that reminds me of a line from A. E. Housman’s ‘A Shropshire Lad.’

 

“That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain,

The happy highways where I went

And cannot come again.”

 

This graphic novel is proof that it is necessary to relive your past and to share this with others.

 

9th March 2020

The Golden Cage

Written by Anna Castagnoli

 

Illustrated by Carll Cneut

 

ISBN 978-1-911496-14-4

 

Published by Book Island

 

Reviewed by Karl Andy Foster

 

Publisher’s website https://www.bookisland.co.uk/products/the-golden-cage?_pos=1&_sid=51334d043&_ss=r

 

Illustrator’s website https://blog.picturebookmakers.com/post/162038451911/carll-cneut

 

 

Review

 

The title of this oversized picture book is worth remembering as you read through the sumptuous illustrations and sensitively delivered text. The golden cover is composed of birds of every exotic variety with a conscious nod by the artist to the bird illustrations of Edward Lear, John James Audubon and the legendary Brian Wildsmith. The Emperor’s sullen daughter is the only sour note within this image. She is a great foil to the avian magnificence surrounding her.

 

The Emperor’s daughter referred to here as the Bloody Princess demonstrates how she got this moniker every chance that she gets. She is an obsessive brooding child who know no boundaries. Her lurid dreams lead her to demand that her servants bring her extraordinary bird after extraordinary bird! Her servants dare not disappoint her and sometimes they don’t return at all. For a book aimed at children aged 6 plus the story is firmly in the mold of a dark European fairytale.

 

Carll Cneut is an artist who possesses a masterful range in his painting and drawing approaches. He has designed each spread with the precision of a graphic designer (the typography also works as image in some cases) and the bravura of an expressionist painter. In addition to the cover his notable spreads include the pin board of birds that contain one of ‘Big Bird’ from the TV show Sesame Street, the one with the 101 numerals in yellow positioned across the pages, the red flower image where the skulls begin to appear for the first time, the final servant surrounded by the empty bird cages and the green page where the final servant finally delivers the talking bird to the Princess.

 

This tale of the Bloody Princess leaves us wondering what will happen next as the imagery gives way to written pages that raise more questions than they answer. This is a complex picture book that will draw out the curiosity of children and adults too as the illustration and the writing work on multiple levels. There is enough here to have one return to its pages time after time.

 

7th March 2020