Speaking Volumes

Over the past few weeks I kept stumbling upon rave reviews for Joann Sfar’s new graphic novel adaptation of The Little Prince, originally written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It had starred reviews in Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal, with critics describing it as, ‘a tribute that is worthy of its own share of applause,’ with drawings ‘that are profound in their meaning and striking in their simplicity.’ So, when it finally arrived I decided to take it home and see what all the fuss was about.

 

The verdict: This graphic novel version does do justice to the original. It sticks to the story while bringing new life to it with its bold and colorful illustrations. But, despite all the rave reviews I thought there was something eerie about the pictures. Maybe it was the Little Prince’s eyes. Whatever it was, this is not supposed to be a scary story but something about the pictures just gave me the chills. I mean, in this picture the Little Prince looks like Chuckie:

        

I was also curious about The Night Bookmobile, the new graphic novel by Audrey Niffenegger, who you probably know as the author of The Time Traveler’s Wife. This book was also creating a buzz, and like The Little Prince, it also earned a starred review in Booklist.
 
  
 
The verdict: When I brought this book back I passed it around to all the library staff to see what they thought. Truth be told it left most of us kind of scratching our heads. Many of the reviews called it a ‘tribute to the power of books,’ but I thought it was more of a sad but thought provoking story about a lonely, obsessed woman. It’s an odd little book, and the end of the story definitely caught me off guard. Without giving any spoilers, I will say that Su came up with an alternate ending that we all agreed we would have liked better. Niffenegger also got a lot of praise for her illustrations, but I thought the pictures were clunky, childish, and very creepy:

  
 
I should note that I don’t read graphic novels all that often, so my opinion might be different if I had more ‘experience’ reading and critiquing them. I would love to hear other opinions about these books, so if you have a chance to read one please leave us a comment!