Henry

Henry has a beautiful view of nature from his window, but his room is bleak and bare. Luckily he knows how to fix this: he’ll bring some of that beauty inside. Then some more. Then some more. Gradually his house fills up with lovely things, and his friends are soon inspired to do the same. Before long, there’s nothing left outside. But Henry knows how to fix that too.

In ‘Henry’, the acclaimed illustrator duo Jacques & Lise play with concepts like ‘empty’ and ‘full’, and the pages feature real peepholes. Using red and green tints, with a touch of white, they conjure up the splendour of untamed nature, translating it to paper in a masterly way. The humour lies in the details: a close look is rewarded. ‘Henry’ might look like just a cheerful picture book, but it tackles big issues: nature conservation, greed, and humans losing sight of the big picture in their craving to possess things and their focus on fleeting beauty. The question is: can a person change? A beautifully designed book whose humour is thought-provoking.