Drawn Onward

How cool is this book! I knew that Daniel Nayeri’s “𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙬𝙣𝙊𝙣𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙” has a palindrome in the title. But little did I know that the entire story and the illustrations are palindromes too!

This is an almost-wordless book about a young boy grieving the loss of his mother. He leaves his loving father to seek answers to the question, “𝘔𝘰𝘮, 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘮?” He gets his answer and returns home the way he went.

The entire text of the book is a palindrome (well, almost, except a word or two) – the text on the first page matches the last, the text on the second page matches the one before the last and so on. The stunning illustrations are palindromes too – they match! All while the first half of the book shows the boy’s sorrow and the second half, his contentment.

What a cleverly made book!