Skip to main content

Pilu of the Woods



Pilu of the Woods
By Mai K. Nguyen
Oni Press, Inc., 2019. Graphic Novel.

Willow's family recently suffered a terrible loss. Willow is sad, angry, and confused and sometimes her emotions bubble out of control. On one such occasion, Willow yells at her sister and then runs into the woods until she can calm down. While Willow is in the woods she comes across a small tree spirit named Pilu, who also recently had a disagreement with a family member and ran away. Now Pilu is lost and it's up to Willow to help her get home.

This graphic novel is a master piece. It teaches young readers about loss through words and imagery that is unparalleled. While Nguyen doesn't use any shading in her illustrations, her fine attention to detail and color make the images pop in a way I haven't seen in a graphic novel before. This book was beautifully illustrated and the writing tone used by Nguyen ties it all together. I recommend this graphic novel to anyone and everyone.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick

If there's one book today's kids need to read, it is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) . The authors provide a fun format for teaching etiquette to children. They discuss proper behavior at home, at school, at other people's homes and in public places. The information is completely up-to-date with cellphone manners and netiquette included. Fun, cartoony illustrations are on practically every page giving the book great visual appeal. This book is perfect for boys and girls in the fourth grade or older. WARNING: Bodily functions are discussed.

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin Illustrated by Leslie Evans Charlesburg; 2009; unpaged Faces of the Moon is a short nonfiction book that describes the different phases of the moon and why the moon appears like it does on certain nights. This book is short and sweet so even the youngest of moon lovers will enjoy it. The layout is simplistic and easy to follow. I don’t know much about the moon so I found it very interesting.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...