THE NOTTED ISLAND

In this U.K. import, a girl must band together with river sprites, a time-telling shadow, and a dog to save her island’s night sky.

“Colour” has finally arrived in a previously black-and-white world, and all are enjoying the fresh new hues…except for the inhabitants of Last Island. Wondering if they’re being punished for bad behavior, the townspeople of Grubb decide to entice Colour by being as virtuous and industrious as possible—which leaves them irritable and vulnerable when a salesman arrives to sell them an automated night sky. In this world, people known as nottes—a term taken from Old Norse—draw the fabric of night over the land each evening. Local girl Tisky longs to be a notte, and when she discovers that the salesman hasn’t delivered an important letter to the current estranged notte, she heads north to do it herself. Along the way, she meets others who’ve had their own encounters with the notte and with the salesman and comes to understand more about the land and the night. With fun wordplay and the personification of natural phenomena as beings and tasks, this parable strikes an endearingly quirky, goodhearted tone as it underscores the importance of downtime and magical thinking in the face of ever-increasing demands for efficiency. Child’s frequent, detailed illustrations enhance the story with their depictions of Tisky’s unique world and compatriots. Tisky has skin the white of the page.

A fun treatise on the necessity of whimsy.