Review

Boy Here, Boy There

  • Chuck Groenink
  • Tundra, 2024

If you’re looking for a beautifully illustrated book to extend your elementary STEM collection, Boy Here, Boy There would make an excellent addition.

Boy Here, Boy There tells the story of a nameless Neanderthal boy who wanders away from his family group one afternoon. As he wanders, readers see through his eyes the scope and scale of the prehistoric world, including a brief encounter with a Homo sapiens boy.

The written text is light and poetic, full of concepts and contrasts for pre-readers and co-readers to explore together. The back matter includes a short explanation of what anthropology and other science tells us about the Neanderthals and might prove just the inspiration for a young mind to want to lean more about prehistory — as might the end papers.

But it is the illustration that I found breathtaking, joyous. They are richly detailed and will reward slow, close examination — exquisite!

Boy Here, Boy There should be a priority purchase for any public or school library, and would greatly enrich any science-themed classroom library from kindergarten to grade three.

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