THE SASQUATCH AND THE LUMBERJACK FAMILY

Those unlikely pals, the sasquatch and the lumberjack, return in this exploration of the meaning and nature of family.

Sheridan’s sequel to The Sasquatch and the Lumberjack (2018) is sparse in text and rich in visual detail, like its predecessor. Unfortunately, though the artwork is as delightful as ever, this book lacks the clarity of the first; here, the message is ambiguous and the cast confusing. Even the title confuses. Is this the story of the sasquatch and the family of the lumberjack or a meditation on family presented by the sasquatch and the lumberjack? The spine suggests the latter; the typeface for “Family” is twice the size of the rest of the title. The front cover seems to say “...the Lumberjack Family.” Maybe a colon is in order? Ten successive double-page spreads with a single word of text apiece present a series of terms: “friends” (our titular pals), “Ma,” “Pa,” “Grammie,” “Gramps,” “Sister,” “Brother,” “Aunt,” “Uncle,” and, finally, simply, “family.” The spare text invites kids to create their own narrative, but the concepts in the first book (“autumn,” “slide,” and “forage,” for example) were more easily depicted and inferred than the familial connections portrayed here. The lumberpersons are racially mixed (white, black, Asian) but the relationships aren’t clear, and there are sasquatch siblings and baby bigfoots, too. Is this two families? One family? What is a family? Readers open to pursuing the possibilities will have much to think about.

No narrative but many questions.