Ha ha hoooo! I highly recommend this hilariously beautiful novel by Dave Eggers. The Eyes & The Impossible is the 2024 Newbery Award winner, and I can see why! Students, teachers, and families will all love this gentle, funny, and endearing tale of a wild dog and his animal friends.
OVERVIEW: Johannes is a wild dog, who serves as the Eyes for his park. He is incredibly fast – so fast that he propels the earth the turn – and spends his days monitoring the goings on of the park and reporting to the Bison, who are the Keepers of the Equilibrium. Johannes prides himself on being a free dog, but he finds himself hypnotized by artwork one day that leads to his brief captivity by Trouble Travelers. Luckily his friends – the Assistant Eyes – a gull, a pelican, a raccoon, and a squirrel – rescue him, but his encounter with captivity spurs in him a determination to free the Bison.
Can Johannes and his friends pull of the impossible and free the Bison from the park? It is well worth the read to find out! And along the way, fall in love with Johannes and his friends; and laugh heartily and smile warmly at their plans, their rescues, their brushes with danger, and the way these animals experience life as living among humans. It’s a real treat.
AGE RANGE: I recommend this book for a wide age range of children, from 2nd graders to 7th graders, or about ages 7 – 13. There are some awesome vocabulary words that may be tricky for younger readers, but the themes are accessible to all ages.
FAVORITE LINE:“I have a different speed reserved for such nonsense, and that is the light speed I can do, which I then did, and yes I became light itself and yes I obliterated that boat and lost the man, too, in the white heat of my own immeasurable propulsion.”
THEMES: freedom, friendship, teamwork, balance, service to others, the natural world
BONUS INFO:
- Voice: the story is told in first person from Johannes’s perspective. Dave Eggers does an incredible job with the narrative voice – you truly feel as though you are in the head of a wild dog in the park, as opposed to a human in a dog’s form. It is impossible to not fall in love with Johannes.
- Hyperbole: the hyperbole in this book is laugh out loud hilarious. From Johannes’s earnest, yet over the top descriptions of his speed to all of the animals’ wonderfully absurd understandings of time and distance and numbers, you will find yourself smiling and chuckling the whole way through.
- features beautiful artwork from Caldecott honoree Shawn Harris
DIG DEEPER: If you’re interested in guiding your reader or students through the novel with exercises to build comprehension, critical thinking, and literary analysis skills, check out this Novel Study & Literature Guide.
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