#237 of 1001 · March 25, 2021

Relationships are truly life’s most precious resources. They nourish us, comfort us, and endow our existence with meaning and purpose. What happens to the connection between two people when one of them is no longer living? Some say that remnants of a loved one’s presence can be powerfully felt even in their absence, and it is the texture of this enduring affection that @mossmontmomery and @david_c_litchfield explore superbly in The Building Boy. Grandma, a retired architect of great renown, tells her grandson time and again of the special house she will build for the two of them, far away on a hill by the sea. After her death, the boy, now alone, channels his sorrow into a project. He sets to work building a statue of his beloved Grandma, a motley effigy all beams and rivets and glass and shingles. To his amazement, the handcrafted colossus comes to life and carries him far away, across the sea, to where the promised house sits atop a little hill. However, the structure is unfinished—there is a hole in the middle, just waiting to be filled. The manner of the house’s completion serves as a metaphor for the nature of relationships and the ways loss can transform our lives forever. Montgomery engineers his tale in simple but affecting language, ably capturing both the physical journey over land and sea and the emotional journey through grief towards acceptance. Litchfield renders his environments with gleaming color and delicate contrast between light and dark; he constructs remarkable depth of character in the interactions between the boy and the grandmother (both in her human body and in her refabricated frame). #building #boy #grandma #grandmother #grandson #architect #house #death #grief #loss #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks