THE HUNT

A small child creates a stone sculpture despite the repeated efforts of hunters to destroy it.

As the child positions a stone on a small pile of rocks, two adults with rifles appear, shoot the rocks, and run away. The child rebuilds, adding a large boulder. The hunters reappear, shoot the construction to pieces, and disappear. Again, the child assembles a larger rock mound and the hunters return, blast it, and flee. Undaunted, the child constructs a larger sculpture with a head and ears. Again, the hunters obliterate it. Eventually, the child creates a huge sculpture resembling a dog that rises up on its hind legs, chases the hunters, and grabs one by the shirt as the child sits triumphantly astride its back. This wordless, mystifying, repetitious encounter between destructive hunters and persevering child unfolds in a vertical page-turn format. Rendered in softly shaded colored pencil, the limited palette of grey, black, pale peach, green, and red fosters a surreal atmosphere. Appearing like cutouts against the white background, the featureless hunters and child, all pale-skinned with black hair, provide no clues. Who are these hunters, and why are they shooting the child’s sculpture? The final diagonal movement of the stone sculpture descending downward across the double-page spread adds visual drama to this cryptic battle between creativity and destruction.

A simple story with a powerful anti-violence message.