LOVE

A one-eyed fox must fight its way through a dizzying array of dangers to return to what it holds dear.

In the midst of an unnamed wild, the seasons are changing from a blazingly rubicund autumn to a strikingly pallid winter. With a scar running vertically through one eye, a fox skulks along, hunting prey and avoiding other animals. However, when a volcano suddenly and violently explodes, the lone vulpine hero must now contend with the scorching lava as well as larger beasts, among them a killer whale, a Kodiak bear, and an albino Alaskan brown bear (according to the backmatter; it looks an awful lot like a polar bear). The crimson fox is continually making its way to something or someone, and against all odds, with love as a driving force, it eventually reaches its destination. Without use of words, Brrémaud and Bertolucci evince a visually arresting tale of survival and reunion. Bertolucci's illustrations are nothing short of breathtaking, portraying both the beauty and destruction of nature. Although the book is gorgeous and the panels, breathlessly paced, readers must account for a dash of poetic license in a landscape that changes climate so swiftly and completely and that the fox traverses in apparently so little time. This fallacy aside, this is a visceral offering whose beauty can’t help but dazzle.

Visually lavish and unforgettable.