Big Panda and Tiny Dragon - James Norbury

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Author-Illustrator: James Norbury

Genre: Sequential Art
Rating: 3.75 stars.

Hmmmm…. Don’t know where to begin. I had expected this to be a nice read, and a nice read it was! That’s it. Nothing earth-shattering. Nothing that made me go “Wow” or “Shucks” or any of the other exclamatory words you can think of. All through the book, I just went “That’s nice/sweet!” and moved on. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Written during the covid pandemic, the book is a collection of the illustrations that author James Norbury shared on his site (BigPandaandTinyDragon.com) during the lockdown as well as new ones drawn specifically for the book. This graphic novel is just a series of drawings with some text, which ranges from silly to reflective, even poignant. The overall effect is quite soothing. There are some beautiful ideas covered such as the importance of living in the moment, the importance of helping others while helping yourself too, and the value of being a listener.

I was reminded of "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse" by Charlie Mackesy, as the approach is slightly similar – characters interacting with each other in a bond of love, friendship, support, acceptance, and encouragement. Mackesy’s book had four characters, which didn’t make it so monotonous. Here, we have only two – Big Panda and Tiny Dragon, and they appear on every page. So after a while, you feel the repetition.

That said, I read this entire book in one go. And I think that was a big mistake. (Blame it on my having only the Kindle edition. This one ought to be read on paper, not on screen.) The best approach for this book would be to treat it like the Book of Proverbs in the Bible. Pick it up, turn to a page at random, and let its wisdom seep into you.

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