Drawn onward: A back to front to back tale of hopelessness and hope by Meg McKinlay and Andrew Frazer

Fremantle Press, 2017. ISBN 9781925164848
(Age: Upper primary - Lower secondary) Recommended. This book starts out very dark and negative, there is no hope. The faceless creature in the book is slowly burdened by all of the negativity as it grows with each page, until you reach the centre of the book where it is almost overwhelming him. Then the words are turned around and the emphasis is changed which changes the whole meaning of the words, the burden is slowly lifted from the creature and he is able to slowly emerge with a face and hope.
This book highlights the power of positive thought and that anything can be changed for the positive.
I would recommend this book for upper primary, lower secondary. It is a good example of how the same words can have very different meanings depending on how they are used and in what order they are put together. It could be utilised as a teaching tool looking at how words can change their meaning depending on the order and context they are used in.
Karen Colliver