I decided to read the book, The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil, after my son was intrigued by the cover when we were at the bookstore. I like to read graphic novels every once in a while. This was a good read that really made you think about a few things.
The basic gist of the story is a man named Dave lives on an island named Here. Here is the same in all aspects of life. As he questions life and thinks about There he breaks out in a beard which causes the uniformity to go unbalanced. The story dives into what happens when his life changes.
I found a couple passages worth sharing
“Because Here, the sea was a thing to fear, The sea led to There.”
“There was disorder. There was chaos. There was evil.
“There was a place to which nobody had ever even been. No one alive anyway. there stories were enough for most people, including Dave.
I bundle all these together because they are really close together in the book. More importantly how many of us are afraid of “there”. That place right beyond our comfort zone where it is scary. It is tough to walk that extra step to new territory. It reminds me of Lord of the Rings (thanks for jogging my memory during your keynote @stumpteacher)
You see this book was powerful in the sense that it reminded me that so often we worry about not messing with things because it has always been a certain way. What if we push a bit further? What if we take that next step? We just might find that the stories we grew up with and start to believe are just that – stories.
I recommend this book to read if you are stuck. You cannot find your way out of Here to get to There.
The novel has beautiful artwork and a strong, but powerful message told through the lens of Dave and what happens when you start to grow a beard.
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