Nara and the Island

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Nara and the Island

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Overview

Nara lives with her father on a tiny island and dreams of visiting the island across the waves. So when she gets the opportunity to visit the mysterious island, an amazing adventure unfolds. This stunning story is the debut of exciting author-illustrator talent Dan Ungureanu.

Product Details
About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781512417937
Publisher:	Andersen Press USA
Publication date:	10/01/2016
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 1.50(h) x 9.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Dan Ungureanu has always loved drawing. He studied art in his native country of Romania, and recently graduated from Cambridge School of Art with an MA in children's book illustration. Nara and the Island is his author-illustrator debut.

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Editorial Reviews

09/05/2016
In a magic-tinged story about finding unexpected connections, Romanian-British illustrator Ungureanu introduces a redheaded girl who finds life a bit tame on the island where she lives with her father. Her attitude is understandable: the island is scarcely larger than the home they share, “so small, you can’t lose anything,” as Nara’s father puts it. In a sequence of panels, Nara imagines traveling to a nearby island covered with dense foliage—“I could ask the birds to fly my there”—but reality proves simpler as her father takes her there in their newly fixed boat. Ungureanu laces his tale with vague, enticing details (Nara’s father’s work involves a giant fish glimpsed in the waters below); upon reaching the other island, Nara meets a boy who’s similar to her in some ways and her opposite in others (his name, Aran, is the reverse of hers, and he longs for the simplicity and quiet of her island). The muted palette, smudgy line work, and somewhat unexplained nature of Nara’s situation add up to a haunting, slightly surreal story that speaks to the rewards of both independence and companionship. Ages 4–9. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Nara lives on a tiny, treeless, island with a population of two: the girl and her father. Aran lives on a tropical island dense with trees and animals, with his mom and two younger siblings. A whale-size fish lives in the water that surrounds the two locales. When Nara's father repairs their rowboat, he and his daughter go exploring, searching for the large fish, and Nara visits Aran's island for the first time. The children are able to experience the adventure and escape they always longed for. Ungureanu's debut picture book shows the beauty of island living through the eyes of a child. The lovely islands look like fun places to visit, and the views from the shorelines inspire creative thinking (emptying the sea with bottles) and bravery (searching for a legendary huge fish). VERDICT: A charming addition for one-on-one and small group sharing that offers plenty to talk, think, and write about."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Nara lives on a tiny island with her father in a house so small it’s impossible to lose anything, but, she has a secret place where she sits alone and dreams about traveling to another island she can see in the distance. One day she and her father set off in a rowboat for the distant shore and Nara finds it is bigger, noisier, and stranger than she imagined. She is afraid and wants to go home until she finds a boy named Aran who takes her to his secret place, which they agree to share. From their shared secret place, Nara and Aran wave to her father in his boat and contemplate the tiny island with Nara’s tiny house just across the water. In this quiet, thought-provoking book, Ungureanu combines sparse, simple text with muted pastel colors for an enchanting effect. The words and pictures capture a child’s desire for adventure, her vivid imagination, and the fear of the unknown. The author also introduces a touch of mystery in the form of a Big Fish that no one has ever caught but that readers can follow through several illustrations. Young readers will appreciate the intricate habitats and wild creatures in Nara’s world and will feel the warmth and satisfaction of a new friendship. Though this book is aimed at the younger end of the picture book audience, it lends itself to discussions of symbolism for older readers. Reviewer: Marilyn R. Garcia; Ages 4 to 8.

Children's Literature - Susan Van Atten - Atlantic Journal-Constitution

10/01/2016
K-Gr 2—Nara lives on a tiny, treeless island with a population of two: the girl and her father. Aran lives on a tropical island dense with trees and animals, with his mom and two younger siblings. A whale-size fish lives in the water that surrounds the two locales. When Nara's father repairs their rowboat, he and his daughter go exploring, searching for the large fish, and Nara visits Aran's island for the first time. The children are able to experience the adventure and escape they always longed for. Ungureanu's debut picture book shows the beauty of island living through the eyes of a child. The lovely islands look like fun places to visit, and the views from the shorelines inspire creative thinking (emptying the sea with bottles) and bravery (searching for a legendary huge fish). VERDICT A charming addition for one-on-one and small group sharing that offers plenty to talk, think, and write about.—Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, Alta., Canada

School Library Journal

2016-07-20
A young girl explores a nearby island and discovers a surprise.Nara, a red-haired, fair-skinned girl, lives with her equally pale father on an island “so small you can’t lose anything.” From the secret place she goes to when she wants to get lost, Nara dreams of visiting a nearby island she can see. Then one day her father fixes their boat and drops her off to explore the island while he rows in search of the Big Fish. (The giant fish is shown in the endpapers in an overhead view, with an odd and unsettling addition on the back endpapers of three people floating near it.) Ungureanu's illustrations are rendered in muted colors evocative of early-20th-century illustrated books and have an Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland feel to them as he shows Nara exploring the exotic island that is so much wilder than her own. Nara’s homely face is reminiscent of Maurice Sendak’s work, adding to the book’s overall nostalgic and somewhat otherworldly feel. When Nara meets Aran, a blond, fair boy who lives on the wild island (and whose name is Nara spelled backward), they share confidences and become friends. Readers may wish for an ending with more obvious oomph, but there are strong undercurrents of doppelgänger here that give the story an extra twist. Superficially sweet, with sophisticated undercurrents that young readers won’t grasp. (Picture book. 4-8)

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Overview

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