Why do ducks fly in a v shape?

BOOK REVIEW

WHY DO DUCKS FLY IN A V SHAPE?

Author: Pablo Caracol From the reader report by: Livia Deorsola

Por que os patos voam em forma de V? is sensitive and charming. In a few pages, it manages to cover more than one theme: the relationship with elders, the learning that comes from this coexistence, the importance of solid foundations on which one can walk throughout life, and the lessons that nature offers us. All that mingled with precise and beautiful drawings.

As with all important things that take root, the protagonist’s relationship with her grandfather and his teachings carries great weight. As soon as the grandfather leaves the scene, the images follow the tone, becoming darker, with collages made with realistic illustrations. They are snapshots of the hastened modern life, the portrait of a strongly individualistic society capable of disintegrating the individual.

What lights her up again are the teachings of her grandfather and his guidance gleaned from the behavior of birds: “Maybe I should do like the birds and go in search of warmer currents or a favorable wind,” she ponders. Birds have the sought-after quality of having a fixed North. Then, light is cast on the character and also on the images that glow again, albeit discreetly.

This double connection — with inherited teachings and with nature — is not uncommon in literature for children. Pablo Caracol, however, achieves great harmony between the tone of the text, made of very short phases, the images, and the very message of freedom and courage, which revolves around an almost rhetorical question that makes us look inward and outward at the same time.

PUBLISHED IN NEW SPANISH BOOKS BR

LIANA EDITORIAL

Title WHY DO DUCKS FLY IN A V SHAPE? ¿POR QUÉ LOS PATOS VUELAN EN FORMA DE V?

Author Pablo Caracol Genre Children and Youth Year of publication 2020 Number of editions 1

Pages 36 ISBN 978-84121-407-74 Language Spanish Spanish retail price 15.90 €

Author’s biography: With a degree in Fine Art, Pablo Caracol began his artistic journey by exploring photography and sculpture before discovering his love of illustration. He has written and illustrated several books, as well as creating poster projects, book covers and especially illustration for the press, working for many clients from different parts of the world such as the USA, Hong Kong, England, France, Colombia and Mexico. www.pablocaracol.com

Synopsis: An exquisite, evocative picture book about our relationships with our grandparents, the passing on of knowledge and the cycle of life. This book invites us to look at the sky and the beings that inhabit it, to change our perspective and to find our own path. Its illustrations transform themselves and show how we can find inspiration and poetry in the world around us. Pablo Caracol’s work is driven by the desire to understand the playful relationships between previously unrelated elements which can be skillfully combined to create a refreshing new idea. “Many people end up losing their way when they settle down.”

Publisher: Editorial Liana Editorial Liana publishes quality illustrated books: picture books, comics and narrative fiction. We look for books that are poetic, ask questions and have illustrations that expand the text by adding another reading dimension.

Publishing rights available from: Liana Editorial - CIF 9785389Q Arganzuela 29, portal D, atico B, Madrid, Madrid www.lianaeditorial.com Contact: Marta Tutone [info@lianaeditorial.com] Phone: (+34) 673 943 565

Prizes and reviews: “An invitation to not let ourselves be swept away by the speed of the world, to step on the brakes a k up at the sky.” A. Cordellat, EL PAÍS