Afterward, Everything was Different: A Tale From the Pleistocene

K-Gr 3–In this charcoal and pencil gorgeously drawn mostly wordless picture book, a hunter and gatherer family of the Pleistocene is traveling through the seasons, harsh landscapes, and realistic representations of the magnificent beasts of the period—think wooly mammoths, giant sloths, saber-tooth tigers. Each spread is a snapshot of the harrowing adventures of the family traveling, hunting, and finding shelter. Ultimately our young heroine, in a cave, discovers drawing and telling a story. One dramatic spread shows the family trailing the side of a mountain path; the following spread discreetly shows the death of one member in a rockslide, feet still visible. The story ends with a fictionalized epilogue, written originally in Spanish and translated into English, about the young girl who discovers cave drawing becoming a leader of the clan.