FARTHER

A dream of flying is passed down from son to son.

A boy lovingly remembers his father and their house on a craggy cliff overlooking the sea, with a pathway of red poppies. In that house, his father worked ceaselessly to fashion a flying machine made of “the feathers of a thousand hopeful wings.” Sometimes the dream would fade, and then father and son would take time to play. That dream is never to be realized, as the day comes when the father dons a uniform and leaves for a great war, never to return. Years later, the son, now grown, resumes work on the machine, succeeds and then shares the vision with his own son. The narration unfolds in a series of snapshots, as in an album, with some large and some small, some in monotones and some with splashes of color and golden threads. These digitally rendered illustrations create a surreal and sophisticated landscape that complements the measured cadence of the first-person narration. Perhaps it is an allegory of man’s quest to reach the stars or perhaps just a tale of filial devotion. Winner of Great Britain’s 2011 Kate Greenaway Medal for distinguished illustration in a book for children.

Evocative and moving.