Absolutely beautiful word-free book. Illustrations are haunting and may be disturbing to some young children. However, children may also enjoy making up their own story explaining the pictures. ( )

This book is the epitome of the art of drawing; giving it less than five stars rating would be disrespectful. ( )

This wordless book about the journey of a paper boat around the world will fascinate both children and adults. There are 96 pages of black-and-white pen-and-ink drawings that have been accurately described by a Kirkus review as mind-blowing.

As the boat travels over and under the oceans we see otherworldly landscapes and habitats both below the depths, on land nearby, and overhead in the night skies. Some of the drawings are realistic, but most are fanciful, showing the product of a prodigious imagination. There are coral beds, fairy-like jellyfish, and deep-sea divers, but also fish-men and underwater horses and elephants and creatures unnamable. The pictures are packed with detail, and will provide hours of entertainment.

Evaluation: This magical odyssey for an audience of all ages is full of wonder and delight. ( )

->To capture the feel of the book, I invite you to watch a 1.5 minute video trailer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnP9uv7BnDg

-> The artist describing the story on YouTube (also 1.5 min): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyk7bwBuMCs

A sailor and a "mysterious black-clad figure with a crescent-moon-shaped head" create a paper boat and let it free to sail the vast oceans. It encounters seals and whales and crocodiles, and countless magical sea creatures; it travels over coral reefs and past mangroves, under billions of stars and above thousands of eyes; into the polar regions, and skirts several disasters, mostly man-made. Finally, he arrives at a safe harbour. I think the message is be bold, go out and adventure . . . something like that? The little boat is a character, even without a face or words.

It feels a bit funny counting a book with no words as "a read," but there is so much going on in this sumptuous 92 page illustrated book (it's sometimes catalogued as a graphic novel). This is Belgian artist Peter Van Den Ende's first book, and it's won several awards. The detail in the illustrations is amazing, and I thought he must have used a computer for some of it, but I've researched it and it's done with dip pens and India ink. The crosshatching, for example, is masterful.

Recommended for: people who love detailed illustrated books, armchair adventurers

Not recommended for: people who suffer from trypophobia might be triggered by this. When I learned about trypophobia, I learned that I have the opposite--I'm drawn to these patterns. Trypophilia, perhaps? I didn't know that this book would be so satisfying when I ordered it. ( )

Zwerveling van Peter Van den Ende.

Een boek tot stand gekomen dankzij een subsidie van het Vlaams Fonds voor de Letteren én tevens een boek waar misschien maar 10 letters in voorkomen. Grappige tegenstrijdigheid op het eerste zicht maar volledig begrijpbaar als je het boek ‘leest’. Dit is geen prentenboek, geen stripverhaal, geen graphic novel. Soms is het een ouderwets sprookje, dan weer sciencefiction, soms een dystopie, dan weer absurdistisch. Het doet mijn man denken aan het grafische werk van Andreas.

Het mooie is dat Zwerveling voor iedereen, op elke pagina, bij elke leesbeurt iets anders kan beteken. Net omdat het zo weinig letters bevat, bevat het veel meer verhaal dan de meeste romans. In Zwerveling staan amper letters maar daartegenover staat dat het miljoenen lijntjes bevat. Elke tekening is een huzarenstukje. Met enkel zwarte lijnen en witruimte laat Van den Ende de boven- en onderwaterwereld minutieus tot leven komen. De uren werk die hier in gekropen moeten zijn staan in rechtstreekse overeenstemming met de uren kijkplezier die elke pagina je kan bezorgen.

Kijk en geniet, laat je onderdompelen in een wereld die je hoofd zal doen tollen en je hart zal beroeren. Wiens bootje ben jij? ( )