Migrants
by Issa Watanabe; illus. by the author
Primary, Intermediate    Gecko    40 pp.    g
10/20    978-1-776573-13-4    $15.99

A group of despondent anthropomorphic animals, carrying little in the way of possessions, treks across land and sea in this wordless story from Peruvian author-illustrator Watanabe. Following the party is a skeletal creature, assumed to be Death, accompanied by a tall blue ibis and wearing a long black cloak adorned with flowers. The group stops briefly to eat and rest, eventually arriving at the ocean. In attempting to cross the water on rough waves, the animals lose their boat. When on land again, they say goodbye to a member of their party who doesn’t survive; this change in pace — the pause in weary walking to mourn the loss — is filled with tenderness, the bereaved creatures gathered dejectedly around their beloved friend. Afterward, Death stops to comfort the deceased creature while the party reluctantly moves on. The severe, distinctive palette includes a pitch-black background on each spread and (on most) a thin, green strip of grass, as if a stage the animals walk across. Their clothing provides vivid pops of color, along with rose-colored blooms on the trees they pass, which, at book’s close, represent a sign of hope. This powerful portrait — stark, eloquent, and utterly devoid of sentimentality — depicts the arduous, dangerous journeys of migrants all across the globe. It’s a small book that tells a big story of loss and courage.

From the November/December 2020 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.