The Boy and the Elephant

Starred review from April 29, 2024
This dreamy wordless fantasy by Kate Greenaway Medalist Blackwood opens with a series of vignettes that show a pale-skinned child climbing out of bed, donning a school uniform, then setting off for a starkly rendered city school, braving sidewalk crowds and sitting alone among throngs of children at recess. After school, the child takes two bowls out to a cramped patch of trees next door to their home, where they greet a friend: a stand of interwoven trees that make up the figure of an elephant. A spread shows the trees through the seasons, the child beneath, suggesting the bond’s constancy. When a “SOLD” sign goes up in front of the grove’s lot and big white X’s mark the trees, all meant to be felled, decisive action is called for, and a middle-of-the-night outing catalyzes a miraculous landscape shift. Blackwood’s pencil and oil spreads lend softness and a sense of liveliness to the work; the child’s small, often-solitary figure and the elephant’s patient frame seem warm and tangible throughout this quiet tale of triumph over destruction. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8.

September 21, 2021
After almost 20 years of her books on our shelves, a new Freya Blackwood is always cause for delight. The Boy and the Elephant—Blackwood’s first wordless picture book—allows her quiet images to shine and tell their own story. Blackwood has described her work in the past as having both ‘softness and darkness’, able to be both ‘gentle [and] serious’, and The Boy and the Elephant is well captured by these binaries. While the story explores, at its heart, the grief of human development encroaching on wild spaces, it is at the same time full of innocent, powerful childlike optimism and love. In a world where adults are distracted by other concerns (work, a new baby), a young boy tenderly nurtures his own solitude with visits to his arboreal friend in the small forest—a peaceful and mellow haven away from the city’s bustle—beside his house. When he learns the trees are slated for demolition, he mourns quietly and alone, but finds a way to rescue them, drawing them to a new home, Pied Piper–style, with his devotion. While the climax of the story is a little bit buried, the resolution is satisfying, and the rich page spreads and panels throughout create an addictively lovely world that I just couldn’t get enough of. Children three and older will adore both the illustrations and the freedom to interpret and tell the story themselves.  Anica Boulanger-Mashberg is a freelance editor, writer and reviewer, and has worked as a bookseller at The Hobart Bookshop for over 10 years. She speaks to Frey Blackwood about her new book here. 

June 1, 2024
In an overwhelmingly bustling city, a boy finds solace in a nearby overgrown lot. After wistfully looking out the window in the morning, the tan-skinned protagonist begins the day's routine: getting dressed, going to school, and coming home to a distracted parental figure. The child feels lonesome, lost amid the go-go-go life of the city. That evening, though, the little one visits an abandoned lot and communes with trees that remarkably resemble animals; the child's favorite is a series of trees fused together in the shape of an elephant. As time passes and the seasons change, the child bonds with his pachyderm pal and is shocked one day to learn that this natural respite is set for demolition for new development. After the protagonist desperately tries to move the trees alone, the arboreal menagerie comes alive and treks across the city in the pre-dawn light to find a safe natural space in an environment teeming with activity. Blackwood's wistful pencil and oil paint illustrations use a palette of blues and greens to infuse this quiet wordless tale with emotion about the all-too-common feelings of loneliness many experience in big cities. A contemplative look at finding your place in a busy world. (Picture book. 4-7)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from August 1, 2024
Grades K-3 *Starred Review* Every morning, a boy wakes up, dresses himself, and walks to school through the bustling city. He sits on a bench alone while the other children play, and then he walks home. His loneliness is evident in the slump of his shoulders and the minute curve of his eyes. He is tiny on the page and in the world. Gentle watercolor washes of pale indigo with the palest golden ochre shining through keep the tone hopeful, balancing the boy's sadness. Once home, he prepares two bowls of cereal and steals outside to a grove of trees tucked between the buildings: trees shaped like an elephant, home to robins and blue jays and bunnies. There is no loneliness here--only serenity. When the grove of trees is threatened by developers, the boy makes a plan to save the tree elephant. This simple, magical story of love and beauty is powerfully conveyed through Blackwood's gorgeous illustrations. Her use of color and line create a dreamy quality while white space and long slender panels maintain the pace of the story so that at no point does the absence of words feel lacking. The conclusion is charming and entirely gratifying. The Boy and the Elephant will be loved by readers of all ages who appreciate the power of the imagination.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2024
In this wordless picture book, we follow a young boy who seems ignored at home and lonely at school as he visits the vacant lot next to his house. This glorious forgotten place is rich in trees; one in particular takes the shape of an elephant and is obviously an old friend to the child. Disaster looms as a for-sale sign appears on the lot and the trees are marked for destruction. In the middle of the night, the boy visits the lot and must have worked out a plan with the elephant-tree -- because the next thing we see are the trees on the move, not only an elephant but a giant leafy giraffe, rhino, and camel heading down the darkened streets to replant themselves in the schoolyard. This story is a gem of child agency and power. Blackwood's gorgeous pencil and oil illustrations are infused with color, narrative, movement, and emotion. In crowd scenes, each small character seems to contain a story. When we see our hero leaning on the edge of a claw-foot bathtub, we can almost taste his despair just in the placement of his arm. This setting and plot also celebrate the value of wild areas that survive in a crowded urban landscape, meeting places for imagination and joy. Sarah Ellis

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2024
In this wordless picture book, we follow a young boy who seems ignored at home and lonely at school as he visits the vacant lot next to his house. This glorious forgotten place is rich in trees; one in particular takes the shape of an elephant and is obviously an old friend to the child. Disaster looms as a for-sale sign appears on the lot and the trees are marked for destruction. In the middle of the night, the boy visits the lot and must have worked out a plan with the elephant-tree -- because the next thing we see are the trees on the move, not only an elephant but a giant leafy giraffe, rhino, and camel heading down the darkened streets to replant themselves in the schoolyard. This story is a gem of child agency and power. Blackwood's gorgeous pencil and oil illustrations are infused with color, narrative, movement, and emotion. In crowd scenes, each small character seems to contain a story. When we see our hero leaning on the edge of a claw-foot bathtub, we can almost taste his despair just in the placement of his arm. This setting and plot also celebrate the value of wild areas that survive in a crowded urban landscape, meeting places for imagination and joy.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)