Just Beyond the Very, Very Far North

Volume XXVII / Issue 16 - December 18 / 2020
Just Beyond the Very, Very Far North
Just Beyond the Very, Very Far North
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Just Beyond the Very, Very Far North

Author: 
Dan Bar-el
Illustrated by: 
Kelly Pousette
New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (Distributed in Canada by Simon & Schuster Canada), 2020
259 pp., hardcover & ebook, $22.99 (hc.)
ISBN: 
9781534433441 (hc.)
9781534433465 (ebook)
Grades: 
Grades 2-6
Ages: 
Ages 7-11
Review by: 
Michelle Superle (Reviewed from Advance Reading Copy)
2
Excerpt: 

There was the weasel, leaning up against the wall of Magic’s tunnel.

“Oh, it’s you,” Magic said, none too friendly. “I’ve had an exhausting, unpleasant day, and I want to be left alone.” Magic slumped to the ground, rolled onto her back, draped a paw across her forehead, and sighed with the heaviness that only one so terribly misunderstood could manage.

“Yeah, I get it,” said the weasel. “You saw how talented your friend Boo was, and you know that everyone else would be amazed too, yet no one wants to listen to you.”

One of Magic’s eyes opened and peeked out from under her draped paw. The weasel got her attention. It’s very possible that Magic might have let go of the whole ignored-Boo-secret business. For better or worse, Magic was always able to be passionate about something one minute and completely forget about it the next. The weasel seemed to sense this about Magic.

“It’s as if they can’t even see what you’re trying to do,” he continued.

Magic sat up, reenergized. “Exactly! You understand—why can’t Duane?”

Hearing Magic say that was music to the weasel’s ears.

In Just Beyond the Very, Very Far North, Dan Bar-el provides many more fun-filled episodic romps in the snow similar to those in The Very, Very Far North. Readers who enjoyed the first book, as well as animal fantasy fans aged seven through eleven, will enjoy the latest adventures of Duane the polar bear.

While these linked stories still offer a break from today’s grittily realistic children’s books—just like their predecessors—Just Beyond the Very, Very Far North does include a slightly darker tone with the introduction of Weasel, the annoying antagonist with a tendency to bully. Weasel makes life slightly unpleasant for Duane and his friends, but this book will still appeal to the “gentle readers” of the first publication. Similarly, the adults purchasing this book as a gift for them will appreciate the sequel’s incorporation of problem-solving and resilience.

The adorable charcoal illustrations rendered by Kelly Pousette are another welcome element consistent with the initial publication. As before, these drawings imbue the work with the feeling of a modern classic.

Just like The Very, Very Far North, its sequel, Just Beyond the Very, Very Far North, will also make a wonderful gift.

Recommended
Reviewer: 

Michelle Superle is an Associate Professor at the University of the Fraser Valley where she teaches children’s literature and creative writing courses. She has twice served as a judge for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and is the author of Black Dog, Dream Dog and Contemporary, English-language Indian Children’s Literature (Routledge, 2011).