The Comet

 
The Comet
by Joe Todd-Stanton

Flying Eye Books

2022

 

 

I saw The Comet while out shopping at a record and comic book store last week, got drawn in by the cover and a flip-through of the interior art, and decided to pick it up. It's a children's picture book, and just very lovely to look at.

 
Nyla and her dad live in the woods, and she's happy. Then they move into the city. Nyla's dad starts a new job and she starts going to school. It's not what she's used to and she doesn't feel at home.

 
One night Nyla sees a comet out the window and wants to draw it. The comet's tail becomes a plant with countless flowers and leaves. Nyla draws on the walls, the furniture, the stacks of moving boxes, the floor.
(Why do kids do this? It seems almost like a fugue state. I did something similar once at 5 or 6, and even immediately afterward didn't know why I'd done it!)

 
Nyla's dad is mad at first, then understands. We see a montage of them cleaning up, then redecorating to make it feel like home. He paints the walls and lets Nyla paint on leaves to create a wallpaper effect. We see a cutaway of the apartment building, and their new friends on every floor. Nyla is finally happy in her new home in the city.

 
As I said, it's a very pretty book, especially the floral / celestial motifs that author and artist Joe Todd-Stanton carries throughout.