THE BOY AND THE ELEPHANT

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.