Way Home

Way Home is a large format picture book depicting in bold but hauntingly subfusc detail the adventures of a boy taking an adopted stray cat to his hideout in the depths of an urban wilderness. The story, printed in white on black, jagged edged page fragments, is told through the street-sharpened words of warning and reassurance that the boy offers to the cat as they pass from danger to danger through the city's darkness and brightness. This is a very unusual and thought-provoking book, the final image of the boy and his new companion reaching a safe but frail refuge in the threatening metropolis being particularly rich in ambiguity. Welcome to another of those wonderful picture books that can nurture the curiosity of any age group. This one was the 1995 winner of the Library Association's Kate Greenaway medal for illustration.