Burt’s Way Home
Koyama Press / Publishers Group Canada
By John Martz
48 pages
age 5 to 8
Synopsis from Publishers Group Canada:
Burt’s an orphan, but no regular orphan; he’s an orphan of time and space after a cosmic accident left him stranded on earth, or so he says. Lydia is an older woman who has adopted Burt. Together they tell a tale of home and belonging from two different perspectives.
Adventure. Family. Perseverance. For a little book, the graphic novel Burt’s Way Home (affiliate link) tells so much. There is no dialogue but it’s not a wordless story. The panels share the thoughts of the two main characters, Lydia the mother figure and Burt the orphan Lydia is fostering. The panels not only help illustrate action and give the sense of participating in the story as a reader, they also help define the two character voices. You can tell by the different treatments used who is leading the story at that moment, important when there’s no dialogue to guide you.
Kids will love the story of Burt trying to get back home and his ingenuity (as well as the surprise about his family). Parents will love how the story explores the dynamic beyond birth families.
You can get an inside peek to this book in the following video review, published on our Youtube channel every Wednesday:
Additional Reading: The Sandwich Thief.
You can find a copy of Are We There Yet? (affiliate link) from Chapters Indigo, Publishers Group Canada or your local bookstore. Visit our Kid’s Books section for other great book recommendations.