The Voyage of the Albatross

A young boy sets out to solve the mysteries of life and discovers something more valuable than he could ever have imagined in Dumiere’s children’s fable.

An unnamed boy stands on a beach, contemplating the confusion of the world while swirling his finger on a spiral shell. That simple movement gets him swept up by the Bully Wind, who tells him that the only one who can reveal life’s mysteries is the elusive Fearful Gyre. So, the boy sets sail through the air on an imaginary ship he names The Albatross in search of answers. Throughout his journey, he encounters dangers (The Deep attempts to pull him under the ocean’s waters by bringing up sad, long-forgotten memories), frustrations (the bickering, three-headed Wee Tortoise-Shaped Cloud), and wisdom (the Mother Sun, Moon, and stars, who suggest that perhaps the Gyre is actually Death). When the boy finally finds the Fearful Gyre, he sees “Circles within Circles, Wheels within Wheels…the Birth and Death of Worlds.” These cosmic visions are accompanied by a mysterious voice urging him to “let go your self.” The boy does just that and finds himself back on Earth with newfound wisdom. Dumiere’s charming black-and-white sketches are just as fanciful as the story’s action, and the layout of the words on the page sometimes echoes the action (a descending “down and down,” for example). As uplifting as it is poignant, the text is also great fun to read aloud (“They plunge ahead as if by Bluster and Brass and the breeze at their back they might sail forever”). It is a simple childhood tale with a message of cosmic birth and rebirth that will echo well into adulthood, much like Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince (1943). Poetic in its execution and profound in its message, Dumiere’s odyssey begs to be read over and over again to uncover the layers of hidden meaning that lie just below the surface.

Dreamy illustrations and enchanting prose make for an uplifting, poignant tale of growing up and letting go.