#871 of 1001 · December 19, 2022

Come and make your way into a wasteland of lost hopes and shattered dreams with Glenda Millard and @stephenmichaelking’s post-apocalyptic The Duck and the Darklings. Peterboy lives with his Grandpapa in a hole in the ground. Up above lies the land of Dark, an empty, ruined place where nothing grows, nothing thrives, and all is gloom. One day, on a foraging trip, Peterboy comes across Idaduck. He takes the invalid bird home and nurses her back to health. Grandpapa tells her stories about the beautiful world of his youth. Finally, the community bands together to help Idaduck fly away, a symbol of possibility for a better future. Millard leavens the morose setting with delightful invented words and fanciful imagery, including “Only when the heavenlies were deepest indigo”, “Yellowly, yellowly shone the sun”, and “The velvet wind whispered.” With pen, brush, ink, and digital digital compilation, King creates a marvelous visual landscape of thick lines, wild shapes, and lively speckles. #duck #boy #grandfather #underground #dark #light #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks