Begin Again

How we got here and where we might go - our human story. So far.


I have followed Oliver Jeffers for a long time, he has produced some wonderful picture books - The Way Back Home, Lost and Found, The Day the Crayons Quit and lots more. In 2020 I listened to a talk by him where he explained the context for a book written after the birth of his son. In Here We Are he described the world so his son would know what to expect:

Though we have come a long way, we haven’t quite worked everything out, so there is plenty left for you to do. 

In his new book - Begin Again - he describes where we humans started on earth and how we developed. He considers the state the world is in now and asks the big question - Where do we go from here? One theme is the problem we have not solved and which began with the creation of us and them - how to get on with each other. Interesting that I am writing this at the very moment that our MPs are discussing ways of stopping other people from coming to our country.

This is not really a children’s picture book, it is designed for a wider audience - I see it perhaps as a family book, a source of discussion maybe. (He has added a very thoughtful essay at the end.) It is a big, powerful, beautiful, thought-provoking book anyway.