What is the Yark? It has been likened to the
Gruffalo. He is a big and hairy beast, has jagged teeth and long fangs, and
loves to eat children. But his stomach can only digest very good children, for
‘liars give him heartburn and bullies and brats damage his teeth’.
There are not enough such children to keep the Yark
in this story well fed, so he must find ways of discovering their whereabouts
to keep him from starvation. He steals Santa’s list of good children and
sets off to find them.
Charlotte is at the top of the list, and when he
arrives at her home, she fools him into thinking she’s bad. She even has a
handbook on how to protect herself from Yarks. Then Jack the bad brother gets
mistaken for Lewis the good one, and is gobbled up. This makes the Yark very
ill. He is convinced he will now die of poisoning.
The Yark awakes to find himself in a warm bed,
being cared for by Madeleine in an abandoned lighthouse. She slowly heals him
with care and herbs.
Madeleine neither feels fear or repulsion for the
ugly Yark. In fact, she finds him beautiful and fears for him. When the wild
thing is faced with these unknown feelings, he’s unable to react. He sees his
next meal before him but cannot bring himself to take the final step. Can love
change a wild beast?
This divinely illustrated book in detailed,
fine-line black ink art presents full page images of the text. The language is
expressive and melodic. Santini’s use of words and rhyme, tastefully scattered
with assonance and alliteration, add beauty and elegance to a seemingly bizarre
choice of subject for a children’s book. Translated from the French language,
the poetic nuances of the original language seep through.
Themes of beauty being in the eye of the beholder,
good conquering evil, kindness obliterating terror, and the warring of the
senses, are demonstrated through the monster’s struggles with his needs, versus
the healing powers of Madeleine’s love and friendship.
There are underlying messages within the book’s
contents. Through the predilection of the monster’s food and its scarcity, a
clever reference seems to be made to the contamination of modern life, and the
loss of traditional manners and social skills.
This book is perfect for book collectors and lovers
of unusual children’s books.
Title:
The Yark
Author:
Bertrand Santini
Illustrator:
Laurent Gapaillard
Publisher:
Gecko Press
Publication
Date: March 2018, $16.99
Format:
Paperback
ISBN:
9781776571727
For
ages: 6 - 9
Type:
Junior Fiction