Posted by Casey on Sunday, Jan 4, 2015
Before, After by French artists Anne Margot-Ramstein and Mattais Arégui is a wordless picture book, released in the U.S. in 2014, which addresses the cyclical nature of time.
In 126 fully illustrated pages the authors explore what time means and does to nature, animals, plants, people, technology and our ways of thinking. Generally, each page spread represents one set of before and after. Many interact with one another or hearken to earlier sets of images, all of them are beautifully detailed and leave much to be explored in subsequent readings.
Surprisingly philosophical, this work begins in the inverse of how it ends, making it capable of being read in both directions and thus allowing time to flow forwards, backwards and in the round. Repeating images, literary allusion and tongue in cheek humor make this a great read for all ages.
About the Author
Casey buys books for ICPL's youngest readers. However, she enjoys reading books of all shapes and sizes. You can find her at the Children's Desk, out and about at one of our area preschools, or providing in-house programming like StoryJAM.
Now that I’ve taken this journey a few times, what really speaks to me is Finn’s growing understanding of what it means to remember those that we have loved. How we can bring those things they have taught us to the present while also saying goodbye. This is a visually and emotionally stunning piece from the Fan Brothers. -Casey