THE ISLAND BEFORE NO

What happens when unruly children show up on an island full of walruses whose only answer to questions is “yes”?

“On our island, every simple question had just one simple answer: Yes.” Usually, this works out well. Our narrator—a walrus wearing a pink cap—eagerly says yes to an offer of a sprinkled, frosted doughnut from a vendor. And yes is the perfect response if someone asks if you want birthday cake or to stay up late. But if someone asks you to don an itchy shirt, it doesn’t work out quite so well. Enter the Kid, a tan-skinned child who takes advantage of the walruses’ language deficit. The Kid interrupts a game of Walrus Ball, amasses all the island’s doughnuts, and uses the narrator’s toothbrush to splatter paint all over a cat. When asked to stop, the Kid responds, “No.” The narrator tries to say “no” when the Kid insists upon a piggyback ride but only manages sounds such as “niff” and “nerp”—wonderfully illustrated through the creative use of fonts. Soon, more young miscreants arrive, wreaking havoc. Funny, accessible Claymation-inspired art depicts the walruses’ difficult mastery of pronouncing the word no—a clear metaphor for the challenges of standing up for oneself. Before this didactic yet lighthearted tale comes to a close, the characters all learn how “yes” and “no” can work in partnership. Human characters vary in skin tone.

A clever, absurdist tale laced with strong takeaways.