Giant on the Shore (published in 2022 in Mexico, 2024 in English) is a lovely picture book. Written by Alfonso Ochoa and illustrated by Azul Lopez, it falls into the category of picture books I’m not sure are intended for adults.
It is a quiet, poetic work, somewhere between magical realism and a dream, a work that depends as much on pacing and imagery as story or idea. A giant comes ashore, spends some time on the shore and in a small town near the shore and then…appears in hypothetical stories suggested by the unnamed narrator.
The images use negative space, implied realities, and breaks in light and pattern. This is strange and pleasant, and I can’t imagine it being published first in the United States.
