Island of Shadows — Davide Cali

2022-12-14In a somber manner that is a tonal shift for Calì, he explores the nightmare that is extinction.“In the forest with no name, between the river of wishes and the cascade of time, there’s an understory of sweet and scary dreams.” Riding on the back of his faithful companion, Dingo, Dr. Wallaby hunts down his Australian animal patients’ nightmares. But a Tasmanian tiger’s “hollow” dreams perplex Dr. Wallaby until he finally realizes that the tiger is “dreamless,” which means that it is extinct. Palmarucci’s illustrations, which have the stiff formality and finely detailed lines of early scientific sketches of flora and fauna, echo the old-fashioned language and style of the text, translated from Italian. A culturally inaccurate depiction of a “thorny” nightmare—an Aboriginal person wearing a necklace of skulls and wielding a knife—strikes a disturbing note. Four vignettes picture several animals’ own nightmares, sketched horrors around a clearly frightened creature (readers may feel the same after viewing them—Where the Wild Things Are this ain’t). The tiger is shown being rowed to the Island of Shadows by a figure all in white. The yellow rocks and almost-black foliage on the bleak island make the grayed-out inhabitants—“the souls of animals, which are no more”—stand out. Calì’s final word—“From here, there is no return”—leaves readers on a distinct down note, as if The Lorax’s Once-ler had no seed to pass on.A dark and depressing look at extinction that leaves no hope for the future. (labeled images of critically endangered species, works cited and inspirations) (Picture book. 10-14)