'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Monday, 16 September 2024

Review: Zoom

Some days, everything goes spectacularly wrong in the worst possible ways. Today is that day for Tom when things inside him break. Outside a storm brews mirroring the intensifying darkness within him.

Closed doors are no match for cookie-wielding mum, however. She enters a room of gloomy light and ominous intentions, sets down Tom’s plate and waits. 

Tom ignores her and afternoon tea in favour of his grandfather’s old SRL camera, the kind with a long lens for zooming in and out.

Hunger eventually presides and with it his storm breaks. Negative feelings pour out until eventually, like the storm outside his window, torrents turn to trickles. 

He pulls mum into his pool of despair trying to make her see what he is experiencing. Instead, she picks up the camera and reveals what she sees, reminding him of the first lesson in photography his grandfather taught him; that perspective is everything. Control the zoom aspect and you … change everything.

The metaphor is simple yet powerful. Through several wordless spreads, Tom zooms out on his very bad day and is able to gain a much-needed retrospective perspective of it; gaining the ability to view cause and effect; to appreciate the delicate balance of actions and consequences that formed his day and, eventually, he is able to breathe a little easier.

Zoom artfully acknowledges the times we feel overwhelmed by the myriads of little things that turn sour in our lives. And, that although we are all prone to drowning in these feelings, there is a way to reframe and carry on. This elegantly relayed story reminds us of the importance to stop and refocus on the bigger picture. The power of this message is portrayed by both Patterson’s fluid prose and Morgan’s painted illustrations which have a magnificent ‘real-life’ appearance as though originating from photographs themselves.

There’s a brooding quiet gentleness about this tale that concludes with a creative quirk as warm as a mother’s embrace after a hard day at school. Kids everywhere will relate to those days when they’ve bottled up more than their little souls can handle. Zoom is a tender way of helping them to let go, refocus and enjoy a fresh perspective. Something us big kids would do well to effect more, as well.

Highly recommended.

Title:  Zoom
Author:  Dannika Patterson
Illustrator:  Ross Morgan
Publisher:  Ford Street
Publication Date:  1 September 2024
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781922695427
For ages:  5 – 9
Type:  Picture Book