Graphic Novel Review – Encyclopedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Graphic Novel/Folklore/Fantasy
Length: 176 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Release Date: December 3, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0316225816
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Xmas Gift
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Before our history began, another–now forgotten–civilization thrived. The people who roamed Early Earth were much like us: curious, emotional, funny, ambitious, and vulnerable. In this series of illustrated and linked tales, Isabel Greenberg chronicles the explorations of a young man as he paddles from his home in the North Pole to the South Pole. There, he meets his true love, but their romance is ill-fated. Early Earth’s unusual and finicky polarity means the lovers can never touch.”

I have been wanting to read this forever and finally got it for Christmas. This is a very well done graphic novel that is part folklore, part fantasy and involves itself with an era known as “Early Earth”. The book is well done and features great storytelling, I love that there is some humor in here as well.

This book is a bunch of stories within stories. The main story involves a young storyteller who journeys the Earth to find a part of his missing soul. He tells the reader a number of stories on his journey. The book also occasionally jumps to the Bird Man, the main god, who is driving things on Earth.

I loved how each culture our young man meets has beliefs that are different but also similar. I also enjoyed the explanations for things on Earth as they stand today (for example the Tower of Babel comes in to play at one point).

The illustrations fit the mode of the story very nicely and are well done. This book was an excellent package as a whole, very different and creative from anything else I have ever read.

I loved this graphic novel about Early Earth. There is some excellent traditional storytelling in here but there is also some humor to keep things interesting. I love how the stories within stories are woven together to form a cohesive whole. I would recommend to those interested in storytelling and folklore in graphic novel format. This was incredibly well done.