DRAWN INWARD

With help from a supportive father, a child vanquishes his inner demons in this follow-up to Drawn Onward (2024).

Inside a fairy-tale castle, a distressed youngster’s big feelings fracture (apparently the result of a devastating personal loss), and his cozy home transforms into a terrifying landscape. Despite brave attempts to navigate it alone, he becomes increasingly dysregulated. His foes, among them lurid, flower-faced guards, a ghostly apparition, and an ominous, dragonlike specter, all “[find] him wanting.” Fortunately, Dad arrives to guide his dispirited son. Using the five senses as touchstones, Dad suggests various sensorial grounding techniques to “tame the voices.” The monsters are rendered harmless, and the boy’s discord is soothed. In an appended note, Nayeri identifies his narrative as a pantoum poem, made up of lines that interweave, interlace and repeat. Discovering the poem’s pulse requires a leap of faith, but once immersed, readers will savor its enchanting cadence. Dark, compelling, and a bit mysterious, Rockefeller's audacious illustrations are a perfect counterpoint to the pensive text. Relying on comics-style linework and digital color, he contrasts foreboding backgrounds with animated bursts of opulent rainbow sherbet color, all while centering the child’s poignant facial expressions through his emotional journey. Readers will be entranced by the fantastical worldbuilding and otherworldly, mystical elements that reflect the young protagonist’s conflicted inner emotions. Father and son have tan skin.

Between the mesmerizing art and contemplative verse, readers will be drawn in.