Review - The Only Child

The Only Child
by Guojing
Date: 2015
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade
Reading level: C
Book type: graphic novel
Pages: 112
Format: hardcover
Source: library

A little girl—lost and alone—follows a mysterious stag deep into the woods, and, like Alice down the rabbit hole, she finds herself in a strange and wondrous world. But... home and family are very far away. How will she get back there?

In this magnificently illustrated—and wordless—masterpiece, debut artist Guojing brilliantly captures the rich and deeply-felt emotional life of a child, filled with loneliness and longing as well as love and joy.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This book may be over 100 pages long, but it's easy to get through in just a few minutes. In spite of that, it has a very well-defined story, all told in hazy black-and-white images.

It reminds me more of a graphic novel than a picture book, due to the panels. There's no text at all (except for a couple of words on objects).

The story is about a little girl who's left home alone. She gets bored and decides to go see her grandmother. She leaves a note for her parents, takes her umbrella, and gets on a bus. But the bus leaves her in the middle of nowhere, and the girl, lost and frightened, follows a deer into the woods. The deer becomes her friend for the rest of the magical journey, and eventually helps reunite the child with her family.

The soft, black-and-white drawings perfectly capture the mood of the story. There's light and darkness, friendship and loneliness, joy and fear. And it doesn't hurt that the illustrations are just so darn cute.

I'd recommend this one to fans of picture books, as well as those who like graphic novels. Because of the lack of text, it can even be enjoyed by younger readers. Now I'd like to see what else Guojing has done, because this book has really made me curious!

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing & Editing: n/a
Illustration: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 ladybugs