Slightly Late Father’s Day Picture Book

FArTHER                      By: Grahame Baker-Smith                  5 Stars             Favorites!

I have cut down on my book purchases for various reasons (money, space, time to re-read books when there are so many other books to read, etc.). Now the only books I purchase are ones I have read and loved in the past, thus I will eventually re-read them. FArTHER is a book I will consider purchasing in the future. It is an incredible picture book based on the relationships of father and son as well as following dreams. (I did want to post this book for Father’s Day, but life got in the way. Oh well.)

FArTHER is a story of a father who dreams of flying. His life is taken over in the effort to make wings to fulfill this dream. His obsession led him to many times forget his son, but the times he came out of his trance, father and son spent long hours playing and having fun.

One day the father is called off to war, never to return. The boy grew and eventually his father’s dream of flying was manifest within his own life. The son started by reworking his father’s wings. By reaching farther he is ultimately able to fly.

The story ends with the son’s son and the possibility that the same dream will come to him. It leaves you wondering how the grandson will take the dream of flying even farther (hot balloon, airplane…).

While the story is told well enough by itself, it is further enhanced by the flawless artwork. The cover of the book was enough to grab my attention and stand out among the hundreds of books I see every day. With all the books I want to read, I tried to push this one aside, but I was drawn to its irresistible force of attraction.  It is a book I could stare at forever.

Baker-Smith uses tones of steampunk (even if you don’t like or understand that genre, you should still check it out). The father’s house is high on a rocky cliff overlooking a sea and a distant city. Keeping true to the setting the colors are in cool hues of blue, green, and purple, neutral colors consisting of white, gray, black and brown with a warm tone of gold mimicking the sun.

The only color that deviates from the theme is red. Upon the first few times of reading the book I understood the red to represent a trail, leading to something important, or even portraying a great accomplishment. Upon digging a little deeper, I came to understand that when the red was used as a poppy it is a sign of remembrance to soldiers. After reading the story again I realized it is also used as foreshadowing for the father. Then again the red is used in other contexts, such as in a kite and when the son pursued his father’s dream and succeeded; leading me to believe that it does have additional meaning than just remembrance.

Baker-Smith was awarded the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Kate Greenaway Medal in 2012 for distinguished illustrations. This is a well-deserved award as the more I study FArTHER, the more I get. It is one that has layers of meaning and beauty.