Just ordered pizza! How many pictures books can my wife and I read before it arrives? Here's #1:

A disappointing and depressing parable about how xenophobia and paranoia are bad but nothing matters because we're all just insignificant motes who are all going to die anyway. The art is ugly and creepy to boot.

Yuck. ( )

People fear the forest at first, but when its mysteries become known, they grow over-confident. Their civilization may fall, but the Mysteries will remain.

It's pretty much impossible to separate Watterson from his earlier creation, the beloved comic strip Calvin & Hobbes. If you can, do so before reading this book. Watterson and Kascht's collaboration bears little artistic similarity to C&H, though the messaging is more recognizably Watterson (respect for nature, people are destroying the planet and need to be more thoughtful in general, etc.). Each two-page spread is a full page of artwork and a few lines of text -- a picture book for adults, if you will. There's plenty to discover in the black and white illustrations, and I found myself wondering about the media used to create them. There's more story there than I was able to uncover at a quick perusal, but I also don't feel compelled to return to them, or to own this volume. It's a little bleak for my taste. ( )

Unsure of this. It wants to be a fable ala Coelho’s Alchemist but falls short imo and comes off as a rather bleak story due to the moody black & white art.

An admirable and interesting work but not one I’ll likely reread soon ( )

Very thought provoking! Hard to classify. I felt it had an uplifting ending, though I'm not sure all would agree. Sad! ( )

An attractive and very short book that would make a nice gift for someone whom you find too upbeat. ( )