I am an Island (2020)
The Unpublished Picturebook Showcase 2020 selection
Award: Prix P'tits Mômes 2024
After losing my father, a feeling of isolation took over me. As I listened to some records inherited from him, the song "I am a Rock" from Simon & Garfunkel stuck with me:
"I am a rock
I am an island
And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries"
My father – a quiet man who spoke with his eyes – inspired me to see poetry in solitude.
A perception that encouraged me to understand grief's process as a profound moment of detachment from loneliness.
Following the daily life of an island in the middle of the ocean, I Am An Island offers a touching reflection on the state of being alone without necessarily being lonely.
REVIEWS
“Very short, very calm, very endearing, and a bit enigmatic: that's "The Island" by Bruno Coelho. Using just a few colors—black, white, pink, and all sorts of shades of blue—and not many words, the Brazilian illustrator and musician tells the love affair between a small, button-eyed island in the ocean and the people who keep it company. And yes, it's the island itself that tells this story—a rather unusual perspective in a picture book! "The Island" can also be read as the product of the grieving process of an extraordinary artist and as an exploration of the question of what kind of people we want to have around us. This is not necessarily just material for children.
– Annette Huber, Lesenetz Hamburg
"Bruno Nunes Coelho conceived and illustrated a poetic little story. Simple shapes and a minimalist color scheme—white, a touch of gray, lots of blue, and a few pink details—create a cheerful and homely atmosphere."
– Andrea Wanner, Titel Kulturmagazin
"An island, for example, is an island. But that doesn't mean it has to be lonely, as this picture book fortunately shows. nThe successful author Johannes Mario Simmel was wrong here. His books were always on our coffee tables with bookmarks in them when we were children. Because of him, we thought that clowns weren't really any fun, and that's how it seemed to us. But this is at least an ambiguous matter. The title of the novel "No man is an island" must, however, be clearly contradicted. As an argument, no, as proof, we now have Coelho's wonderful picture book "The Island".
– Judith von Sternburg, Frankfurter Rundschau
This book is represented by S.B. Rights Agency.
Rights sold: French, German, Korean, and Italian.
