Goliath The boy who was different

A giant red triangle-shaped boy wanders through a world of regularly proportioned human beings, desperate to fit in. Disconsolate, he strikes out in search of advice from other large bodies: the ocean, the sun, and, rewardingly, the moon. Illustrated in traffic-light colors applied by what resembles woodblocks, this tidy parable about being oneself comes in a suitably big-and-tall trim size. (c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A boy, huge and completely bright red, narrates his quest to discover how and where to belong in this German import by a Spanish creator."I wanted to be like everyone else / even though I was much bigger." He tries to exploit his difference through boxing, but no one dares to oppose him. Figuring that geography might be the fix, Goliath begins a journey of discovery. Querying the ocean, then the sun, he's met with both splendor and silence. It's the Earth-tethered moon who provides an answer, offering beautifully observed, existential wisdom: "Goliath, look at me. I am smaller than the sun, and I am bigger than the ocean, but it does not matter, because there is no one else like me. So, why does it matter to you if you are big or small?" As this big truth penetrates, Abada centers Goliath as a tiny figure on an ink-black page. "Whoever was looking at me / would never see me in the same way." Abada's pictures embody a dynamic interplay of color, form, and perspective. Gestural lines, hard- and brushy-edged shapes, and a palette of red, yellow, green, black, and blue carry the bold design statement, complemented by a tall, thin trim size and wryly chosen font (Super Grotesk). Early and later spreads and endpapers convey that Goliath's epiphany coincides with his integration into a newly vibrant community of children.Profoundboth visually and philosophically. (Picture book. 5-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.