The 2024 Newbery winner is The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris. Told from the perspective of a stray dog, Johannes, living in a west coast urban park, this lively, quick, and powerful story has a great narrative voice, warm friendships, and a lot of nature. Johannes loves running, he loves being “the eyes” of the park for the ancient and wise bison, he loves human art, and he loves his friends, especially his best friend Bertrand the seagull. Johannes is an exuberant first person-narrator, estimating that he runs faster than the speed of light, that the bison are millions of year old, and the sun is God.
What I liked. The rich language, the unique voice of the narrator, and the warm friendships with the other animals made this book such a wonderful reading (actually I listened to it, so listening) experience. I found myself smiling and full of joy listening to this quick five hour audiobook.
What I found interesting. The audio and illustrations for this book were amazing. Ethan Hawke did the audio narration, and it was excellent, and illustrations were created by Shawn Harris, who took a series of gorgeous classic forest paintings from the 1600 to 1800s and added Johannes to them. The production value is so high, I would assume because Dave Eggers was already such a well-known and respected author, and the audio and the illustrations augmented an already rich experience.
What were some limitations. For younger readers, one possible limitation is the way God is talked about. This is really my only slight hesitation to recommend the book as a whole family read aloud. Throughout the book, Johannes repeats the phrase “God is the sun and the clouds are her messengers.” And then there is a brief scene when the park rangers take God’s name in vain a dozen times when the raccoons are causing mischief. The raccoon scene would be very easy to alter for young ears if you read it aloud, but different families are going to want to handle dog Johannes’ views of “God is the sun and the clouds are her messengers,” in different ways. It’s a recurrent phrase and one that gets directly discussed by the goats. My only other caveat for read-alouds/young readers is the seagulls “coda” ritual of choosing a time for a last flight and allowing themselves to drop from a great height to their deaths in the sea.
Similarity to other Newbery winners. In many ways The Eyes and the Impossible is most similar to The One and Only Ivan and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH in terms of an animal escape adventure joining classic non-Newbery medal books like The Incredible Journey, Watership Down, or Charlotte’s Web (A Newbery honor winner). Other Newbery winners told from an animal point of view include Smoky the Cow Horse, Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon, Rabbit Hill, and The Tale of Despereaux. Also Johannes the dog joins a number of books with beloved dogs: Bandit (from Dear Mr. Henshaw), Prince Terrien (from Bridge to Terabithia), Nick (from Adam of the Road), Uri (from Call it Courage), Fortinbras (from Wrinkle In Time), Cafall (from The Grey King), Ramo (from Island of the Blue Dolphins), HMS Beagle ( from The Higher Power of Lucky), Bob (from The One and Only Ivan) and the eponymous Sounder, Ginger Pye, and Shiloh. Again, all these dogs are male dogs! Evidently we need a lady dog to win the Newbery medal.
What it teaches me as a writer. This book was deeply satisfying and somehow a bit unpredictable. I particularly enjoyed watching how Dave Eggers made the planning of the great escape at the end something we knew some details about (a few of which of course didn’t go to plan) but that he saved several important parts of the escape plan for the section in which they actually happened (the particulars of the role of the raccoons, and all of what the rats and the horses and the birds did). I felt the whole time that I was in a master story-teller’s hands. Everything was purposeful and well-crafted, satisfying and yet surprising. Johannes was so filled with joy so often throughout this book, and overall the experience of reading it was one of deep joy.
Have you read The Eyes and the Impossible? What are your favorite animal fiction books?
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