Burt’s Way Home

Burt’s Way Home is an early graphic novel that tells two stories–or, two perspectives of the same story–in one book. One story is told through the voice of a little boy, Burt, who believes that he is an orphan from time and space. His orphaned existence on this planet results from a cosmic accident when he is travelling through time with his intergalactic transdimensional time traveler parents! But now he is trapped on earth and taken in by Lydia, a nice human lady. He has to pretend to be an earthling and do earthling things. Every day, Burt longs to reconnect with his faraway home. The other story is told by Lydia who, indeed, is a nice human lady. But nothing in Lydia’s version of the story involves outer space, cosmic accidents, or intergalactic transdimensional time travellers. Lydia sees a confused and lonely boy who needs a bit more time to settle into his new home. Trying her best, Lydia focuses on taking care of and supporting Burt with love, patience, and understanding. And finally, Lydia finds a way to bridge with Burt and bring him home.

The author and illustrator, John Martz, is a cartoonist living in Toronto, Ontario, who has won numerous awards for his artistic work in children’s literature. In this particular story, Burt’s Way Home, Martz’s ingenious design of the two perspectives opens the door for interpretations. Never once does the author mention the words “foster home” or “adoption”, and so it is totally fine for the reader to enjoy Burt’s storytelling as innocent scientific fiction. Who is here to say that the cosmic accident wasn’t real and that Burt was not truly an intergalactic orphan? Of course, when the reader integrates Burt’s and Lydia’s stories, a metaphor emerges and leads to an interpretation of home searching, a sense of security and belonging. Still, it is not implicitly said in the writing. The vast space the author leaves in the story invites the reader to wonder, to relate, and to turn it into our versions of the story.

Burt’s Way Home is a cute small book, only 5½ x 7 inches big. Young readers can hold it in their palms and easily turn the pages. It presents an interesting design of the pages–one of the most special traits of this book! Lydia, the mom’s story, is presented on one spread, and Burt, the boy’s story, is on the next spread. Readers experience a change of tone every time they flip the page. The contrast between two very different versions of the story provokes more interest and desire to read more, to get to the bottom of it, to investigate–which story is the reality?

I believe Burt’s Way Home can be a great addition to young readers’ reading lists. We need more genres that require diverse reading skills, an early graphic novel, in this case, to enrich children’s literature experiences. Burt’s Way Home would also be a great conversation opener in early-grade classrooms, helping young students to practice interpretation of the literature on important topics.