MOLE IN A BLACK & WHITE HOLE

A mole who’s never ventured aboveground learns that there’s a vibrant world overhead in an unusually styled debut picture book.

Mole, who lives in a small hole beneath the earth, lives a life with few hues: Everything in his home is black or white with just a few exceptions. His hands and feet, which are bright pink, are the same color as neighboring worms and a best friend, Chandelier. Chandelier, who hangs above Mole, is actually a plant, with a view that goes beyond Mole’s. “There are blossoming trees and blooming flowers, I can see it all with my leaves,” Chandelier says. When Mole’s friend is uprooted, literally, Mole must conquer his fear of what lies on the other side. The view up there, of course, is revelatory for the sad Mole, opening possibilities toward a joyous conclusion. First-time Czech author/illustrator Sediva’s linocut prints start out stark and smudge-filled, like stamped pages with incongruent shapes and inky blotches. But as color plays into the story, the overlapping objects blend together like dreamy collages. It replicates the kind of mind-blowing sensory overload Mole must be feeling as he sees the moon, the sun, and so many flowers for the first time. The book’s unusual format, with horizontal double-page spreads that open bottom to top rather than right to left, the gutter demarcating the worlds above and below ground, smartly conveys the vertical nature of Mole’s journey.

Odd and oddly affecting, Mole’s story catches the eye and captures the heart.