I have to thank fellow bookseller Nicole for introducing me to this stunning book. The technical skill left me astonished. I wanted a bench, as though in a museum, to sit and quietly take in each page of black-and-white pen-and-ink line drawings. Van den Ende's debut is a wordless story of a small paper boat's epic journey across a vast and fathomless ocean. It teems with myriad flora and fauna that reside somewhere between fairy tale and reality. It intrigues. It beguiles. An elegant testament to solitude, strength, and bravery.
★ "Remarkable. Absolutely sui generis." —Booklist, starred review
Without a word, The Wanderer presents one little paper boat's journey across the ocean, past reefs and between icebergs, through schools of fish, swaying water plants, and terrifying sea monsters. The little boat is all alone, and while its aloneness gives it the chance to wonder at the fairy-tale world above and below the waves, that also means it must save itself when it storms. And so it does.
Readers young and old will find the strength and inspiration in this quietly powerful story about growing, learning, and life's ups and downs.
About the Author
Peter Van den Ende is an artist and illustrator based in Belgium. Previously he worked as a nature guide in the Cayman Islands. The beauty of the sea was his source of inspiration for his wondrous and wordless debut picture book, The Wanderer—A Society of Illustrators, Dilys Evans Founder's Award Winner and named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
