Spanish / Spain
Loba
(She-wolf)
Albo, Pablo
(text)
Moreno, Cecilia
(illus.)
Aguadulce, Almería: Libre Albedrío, 2021. – [48] p.
ISBN 978-84-122392-6-3
Wolf | Forest | Picture book
Reading age: 5+
White Ravens issue: 2021
Pablo Albo’s text is extraordinary. Short, concise sentences string themselves together; no word is too much. The rhythm of the words and sentences, the repetitions, pauses and ellipses create a magic and astonishing pull, even though the text seems sparse and nothing spectacular happens in the story. A she-wolf trots through the forest, rain drops fall one after the other, an ant runs up a tree and back down again, timid rabbits are watchful, the wind blows, the evening breaks, stars shine in the night-time sky. The minimalist, carefully structured, repetitive, purely descriptive and somewhat hermetic text is congenially echoed in Cecilia Moreno’s pictures. Monochrome shapes, lines, dots merge at times into geometric patterns. The sense of order is reinforced by the background of chequered paper. “Loba” is an original picture book, with brilliantly composed text and illustrations. A true discovery. [JW]