When the Mountain Wakes

When the Mountain Wakes by Matt Shanks (Affirm Press 20225) HB RRP $29.99 ISBN: 9781923419056

Reviewed by Sylvia Forbes

Somewhere, towards the beginning of time, a mountain rose from the ocean and came to rest above the clouds.

Life sang a lullaby, and the mountain slept for many millions of years.

Until one day, when the world became too silent for sleep ...

Elegance and majesty run through every page of this outstanding and heartfelt picture book - created by internationally published and critically acclaimed author/illustrator - Matt Shanks. 

An impossibly sweet-faced mountain is sleeping blissfully through aeons of time whilst life sings its lullaby. Over several wordless page turns, the passing of time is depicted through a series of tiny, framed illustrations. 

Each image features the mountain, whilst around and on top of it you see the ever-shifting evolutional events and changes taking place (both natural and man-made). From cavemen to dinosaurs - through to the arrival of industry and technology. 

Uncomfortable in the quiet, the mountain grew restless and lonely.

Over more wordless page turns, the mountain extracts itself from the earth and stands, shaking off sleep and rubble and goes searching for a song. 

After a thousand years of searching, the mountain became tired.

It decided to return to the place from where it came. 

But on its way back ... 

something stopped the mountain. It was beautiful. 

The mountain lowers itself with a face full of yearning and gazes intently at a tiny pop of periwinkle-blue - a single flower - bursting out from the parched desolate earth. Concerned for its safety, the mountain gently removes the flowering plant from the earth and places it tenderly into a crevice on its shoulder - protecting it from the harsh, wind-torn terrain as they travel together. The flower becomes a symbol of great hope - and a promise - for the lullaby's return. Encouraged, the mountain keeps moving forwards ... until finally returning to the place from where it first awoke ... 

In a symphony of words and pictures, this 64-page picture book presents like a graphic novel - with the sublime aesthetic of Studio Ghibli. The restrained palette, the tiny details, the intricate textures, where even the bleakest most desolate of environments - a land without life - is illustratively beautiful in colours of sand, stone, camel and beige.

There is so much to love and admire in When the Mountain Wakes - and with every page-turn, with every read, you find another layer to immerse deeper into.

I love the mountain as a character - there is something so instantly endearing about it that draws you in. Could be the juxtaposition between its large, boulder-like figure and its gentle child-like demeanour. As reader I empathised with its plight, I adored seeing the miniscule flower resting on its massive shoulder and admired the unquestioning dedication and time given in its search for life's lullaby. (Taking the metaphor - to move mountains - to a whole new level!)

I also love how the mountain became uncomfortable and woke due to the quiet. You could argue that the the arrival of man with all his machinery and technology would be the thing that woke the mountain - that it would be uncomfortable in all the noise - not the quiet.  

But no. This is about the mountains connection to earth's life force having been broken. The lullaby had ceased because nature - the environment - was in trouble. So how could the mountain sleep when that vital hum of life (more powerful than any man-made noise could ever be), was suddenly gone? It's the equivalent of a baby sleeping in its mother’s arms - where the surrounding noise doesn't wake it - but the sudden loss of its mother’s arms does.

When you live in tune with nature - you feel it. And miss it dreadfully in its absence.

When the Mountain Wakes is a sweeping tale about hope and healing. It is a testament to the resilience of nature. But it also serves as a warning. For things to change and be restored - hope must be actioned. 

Even the smallest actions can make a difference and have a lasting impact, contributing not only to the ongoing health and harmony of the planet (beyond our own lifetimes) but to our own intrinsic connection to it - to nature - and to the continuum of life's lullaby.

I think this quote neatly sums it up ... and I think Matt Shanks would agree ...

'May we be people who plant seeds, 

that grow trees,

in whose shade we may never sit under.' 

This ambitious and profound picture book with its stunning illustrations and economic text, delivers not just a story, but an important and timely message which children (of all ages) will appreciate and enjoy.

It is a 'forever' book.

Highly recommended for readers aged 5 - 99 years.