Oliver Jeffers, Being again, HarperCollins Publishers, November 2023, 112 pp., RRP $29.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780008579593
Quoting from the book cover because it summarises everything. Oliver Jeffers’s discourse on the state of the world is a powerful contemplation that is insightful, moving – and hopeful. A must-have for every forward-thinker who wants future generations to inherit a world to be proud of.
Jeffers opens his book with the question Where did we begin? And he then goes on to hypothesise where that starting point was. Was it our hands? Fire? Tools? Then, how do we get there?
As I read it the first time, I wondered who the target audience was: children (like most of his previous ones), teenagers, adults? The further I progressed and during subsequent readings I have decided it is a book for everyone, and a book which everyone should read. It’s approachable for young readers by accepting the simple language used. More mature readers will see the many levels and interpret what has not been directly said. Older YA readers and adults need to read Jeffers’ essay at the end of the book and absorb its messages.
The whole book is a wonderful package. Presented as a picture book, it has very few ‘real’ pictures. The cover is a very dark blue, almost black, with touches of white. The end papers are a brilliant bright pink, reflecting the cover title colour. Throughout the book, these colours, and their shades, are repeated, with plenty of white space. The font used is Jeffers’ own eccentric creation, and there are sure to be some readers who will find it messy.
The book concludes: …we think beyond our own lifetimes, beyond our children’s, and theirs, and theirs and theirs … and hope wherever you look for it.
Highly recommended for all readers.
Reviewed by Maureen Mann
