THE WALL

The “world is a beautiful place” to Tom, who wants to be a “great explorer and see it all”—until his grandmother warns him that “the world is not safe."

Afraid when he hears grown-ups, TV, and newspapers talk about bad “monsters” from other parts of the world coming closer, Tom stops exploring. The grown-ups build a high, long wall to keep the monsters out. Feeling safer, Tom forgets all about exploring. But one day he receives a friendly message from across the wall and decides to climb over. Tom sees no monsters, just beautiful grasses, flowers, mountains, birds, animals, trees—and a little girl waving. The girl returns with Tom to his side of the wall. Listening to the girl talk about her home and people convinces those who built the wall to tear it down, and Tom starts exploring again. This simple story quietly reveals the insidious impact of xenophobic isolationism and offers a hopeful message. Whimsical, delicate illustrations cleverly utilize color to track Tom’s journey from joyful boy eagerly exploring his colorful world to fearful child sadly watching TV. Color gradually disappears from the illustrations as the wall rises, leaving a beige world. But when Tom scales the wall, he discovers the world awash in brilliant color, which seeps back into the illustrations as the wall falls. Though Tom presents White and the little girl Black, importantly, Tom’s community’s grown-ups are racially diverse, saving the narrative from reductive racialization.

Timely, aspirational, affirming.