When You Look Up is a Picture Book Masterpiece
Like most parents and teachers, I’m very interested in conversations about helping kids discover their passions in life. I could happily talk about it for many hours, and I very much consider it one of my most important fatherly duties. So when I find a picture book that touches on the topic in any way - it’s definitely going to have my immediate attention.
In many ways, discovering what fuels your passion for life is at the very center of my personal philosophy for happiness. And, as a dad, I obviously want to do everything I can to help my kids discover their own happiness. It’s at the very root of many other key topics for me - like how grumpy I get about the way the school system is designed, to why I love focusing on art and play.
Because of all this, I’m undoubtedly the target audience for the amazing picture book When You Look Up. When I picked it up for the first time, I read the supersized, anthology-style picture book from cover to cover, and I instantly recognized that it was something incredibly special on many levels. From the art on the pages to the heart at its core - I can hardly find the right words to convey the full experience.
Guillermo Decurgez - known professionally as Decur - is a self-taught cartoonist and illustrator from Argentina, and 2 years ago he released this very special book called When You Look Up. And this magnificent fusion of picture book and graphic novel is, to put it simply, a true masterpiece. And it deserves to be talked about much more often in children’s book circles.
At its core, When You Look Up explores several powerful and emotional themes - chief among them childhood wonder, the power of art and imagination, and the fear of being forgotten. And Decur interweaves and slowly reveals these themes in a masterful way that elicits incredibly effective emotional responses. It’s truly a joy to behold, and, quite simply, it’s children’s literature at its very best.
I don’t say that lightly, and I say it because it truly checks all of my boxes for an entertaining and memorable storybook for kids. It’s the type of book I would grow up and remember if my parents had read it to me. It’s beautiful, it’s mysterious, and it’s even a little scary at times. It’s abstract and quirky in the most perfect way, and features characters that are hard to forget. And it’s emotionally relatable for both kids and adults at the same time.
It starts out with the very effective and almost cliche setting of a boy named Lorenzo moving into a big, old, unfamiliar home - and he discovers a strange old piece of furniture left behind in his room. It’s an old desk full of dozens of little drawers and cabinets, and he finds a secret compartment in it. Inside the compartment is an old art book that, in a sense, transports him into another world - a world of memories. Personally, such a setup reminds me of exciting and memorable stories like Spirited Away or The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe - and that probably goes to show why I hold this book in such high regard.
The title itself - When You Look Up - is a reference to the fact that Lorenzo is quite obsessed with his phone at the beginning of the book, and he’s pretty concerned that he’s not getting any cell signal en route to his new home. By the end, it’s quite easy to contrast his time spent on the phone with the excitement and passion he discovers when he finally “looks up.” But I also think you can safely substitute his phone with any waste of time or lack of passion. It doesn’t feel like a criticism of screens as much as it feels like a champion of wonder and imagination.
The structure of the book is also spectacularly effective. It’s structured as an anthology - where we are treated to all of the stories the boy reads in the hidden journal, complete with the paper cut-out illustration style of the original owner of the journal. It feels like we are transported into the story each time, and then return to the real world afterwards. And It’s exciting for us when Lorenzo finally finds a quiet moment to settle down with his book and start the next story - much like Bastian in The Neverending Story.
The art is the stuff of dreams - and I suppose I mean that literally, because the stories in the secret journal are actually the original owner’s dreams. But I also mean it figuratively, because I’m just so enchanted by how perfectly quirky and dreamlike the whole thing is. For instance, despite the fact that the stories are something of an autobiography, none of the characters are humans. The first story features the author imagining himself as a rabbit playing with his ostrich friend - and running away from a lamp monster.
The next story features the very same narrator, now as a cat dressed like a boy scout and riding a bicycle. The cat saves the life of a giraffe, and they end up marrying each other. In other words, imagine if Wes Anderson made a heartfelt and quirky stop-motion anthology film with paper cutout animals, and you’d be on the right track.
The book strikes the perfect balance between being meaningful and being entertaining, and that’s likely why it’s so profoundly moving. It completely avoids the common pitfall of picture books that are too preachy or boring - which often happens to books these days when they are created solely to teach. No, this book is first and foremost a work of art. And the stories inside of it, even just on the surface level, are pure entertainment for children in the way the best stories always are.
But, don’t get me wrong, there are absolutely things to learn from this book. And among those lessons are some of my favorite topics - like empathy and finding meaning in life. The book explores complex emotions like wanting to matter and be noticed, and it does a wonderful job of highlighting the magic of discovering an activity that breathes excitement into your life.
I can’t describe how special it is when Lorenzo finally tracks down the author of the secret journal - Gregorio. This climax of the book is punctuated by several beautiful things happening all at once. The quirky stories of the anthology tie themselves together in the most wonderful way, and we learn quite a bit about their creator. And then Lorenzo shares something very meaningful with Gregorio. It’s his very own art - inspired by Gregorio, but in his own style. And it’s enough to bring a tear to your eye.
It’s an inspirational reminder about the impact we can all have on the children in our lives. In many ways, after a certain point, that’s what it’s really all about in life. And, of course, art can be a very important part of that process. We simply can’t underestimate the significance of creating and enjoying and sharing beauty with the people we love. After all, that’s precisely the reason I so intensely love sharing books exactly like this one with my kids - books I think they’ll remember forever.
Have you read When You Look Up yet? Which story inside is your favorite? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
