Viewfinder

by Christine D.U. Chung, Salwa Majoka

A young space traveler happens upon Earth in the future in this gorgeous wordless adventure for fans of Shaun Tan. A transportive graphic novel for ages 6 to 9, perfect for Earth Day.

A young space traveler visits Earth on a whim and finds a planet empty of people. She happens upon a strange contraption that contains images of what the planet used to be like, and using this viewfinder, she sees Earth as it was, juxtaposed against Earth as it abandoned, but still full of amazing things.

Her adventure takes her to a museum full of hints about the planet’s past and the strange glowing mushrooms that grow everywhere, a library that has become home to a variety of zoo animals, and a beautiful but crumbling space station from which she makes a daring escape. As she wanders, though, she sees signs that perhaps there is still someone here. A time capsule, a friendly cat and a makeshift railcar all add to the mystery . . . is she really alone?

The lush and captivating art and subtle nod to stewardship in this wordless graphic novel will draw readers in and leave them with a renewed sense of wonder for the resilient and extraordinary place we call home.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Picture Books, Childrens, Adventure, Comics

144 pages, Hardcover

First published February 13, 2024

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a child I was obsessed with space travel. I mean, it’s the greatest adventure possible to plunge into the unknown infinity of the cosmos, how can you not love that? Alas, I never became an astronaut but thankfully there are books like Christine D.U. Chung and Salwa Majoka’s vibrant and imaginative Viewfinder that rekindles that childlike awe of exploration and gazing in wonderment into the vastness of existence. A wordless graphic novel that will touch the hearts of readers of any age, Viewfinder follows an adorable little astronaut as they explore a deserted Earth filled with artifacts of the lives and loves of the people who once lived there. Following a map drawn on one of those viewfinder toys, they explore the world as Chung and Majoka capture the journey with eye-popping and whimsical artwork that speaks just as loudly as any words ever could. There is a calm that cuts through the relative loneliness of this tale and Viewfinder will quietly nestle into your heart and imagination.

The art in this is simply exquisite. Just the other day I was lucky enough to catch the Aurora Borealis and there’s something about staring into the limitless of space that is rather empowering and humbling at the same time. To think of ourselves as minuscule heartbeats amongst the unimaginable scope of space puts life on a scale that always leaves me wonderstruck. The art here has a similar effect, capturing a tiny tale amidst a grand universe. The lush color palettes and the use of glowing light all really pop as it captures haunting yet peaceful visuals of nature reclaiming a decaying urban sprawl. It has a really cute character design that makes me want to watch any animated film this due might one day make and the juxtaposition of the sepia toned photos on the viewfinder with the current state of the abandoned planet are quite moving:

Having just finished an animation project graduating high school together, Chung and Majoka wanted to use their skills for a different visual medium and spent a year to bring Viewfinder to life with Chung working on the art and Majoka orchestrating the storyboard. In an interview with Quill & Quire, the duo talk about how they were inspired by the works of Shaun Tan:

‘Wordless graphic novels are unique in the opportunity they provide readers to interpret and form their own ideas based on the images they see. We hoped to create a book where audiences could build upon their ideas with each rereading.’

Wordless graphic novels are sort of like poetry for visual media. As Will Eisner wrote in Comics and Sequential Art ‘the structures of illustration and prose are similar’ which is what makes sequential art such an important aspect of visual literacy because it involves decoding and organizing visual clues and symbols. We as the reader explore the world right alongside the astronaut, picking up on context clues and decoding our own story from the sights. It’s quite astonishing and magical.

I really love the visuals and the way this is addressing the apocalyptic downfall of a planet with a rather soft and contemplative approach. The reader is left to interpret a lot, which makes you feel like you are co-producing the story, and little hints like the glowing mushrooms opens up your imagination to decide what happened. Also this kitty is the best:

A cozy story in the aftermath of a chaos is not the story you’d expect to share with children, but this is just great. I like the subtle messages and it feels rather hopeful despite the overgrown ruins. I also enjoyed how the depictions of the populated Earth was rather inclusive in terms of ethnicity of the people depicted in the bustling streets and classrooms. The whole thing, faced with the scope of the cosmos, reminds us we are all tiny by comparison and in this together. May we all embrace that before it is too late.

Overall, Viewfinder is a delightful experience through space, abandoned ruins, and your own imagination. Admittedly there are times when it feels a bit drawn out and a bit aimless, but that is also the spirit of exploration. This is art you’ll want to return to again and again. I’m very glad I read this.

4.5/5

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure if this is going to make sense, but this was a quietly beautiful book. I enjoy wordless graphic novels as they not only force the reader to come up with their own interpretations, but they also allow for so many different viewpoints and perspectives on the overall meaning. Viewfinder is no different! It follows a young space adventurer who travels back to Earth to find that it's been impacted by some unknown cataclysmic event. As the reader, you don't know if she will encounter human life or not. Like the quietness that she experiences on this journey, anyone reading this graphic novel will probably experience a sense of calm energy through the pages. The illustrations were vibrant and beautiful and I'm looking forward to seeing what Christine D.U. Chung does in the future.

[Milton Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful, wordless graphic novel is stunning. A space explorer tween stumbles upon an Earth of the near future. It appears that there are not human inhabitants left on the planet, which has seen it's own destruction from meteors. As the girl explores she discovers images from the past that juxtapose pretty clearly with what she sees in the present. You are guessing up to the last page as to whether there are actually any humans remaining and whether our space explorer with find a human connection for herself. The illustrators are masters at storytelling without words and paint a compelling future for the human race. Really delightful!

Find it in our SHARE Catalog today!

Ashley C. / Milton Public Library #CheckOutMPL

[Tim Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

When space mushrooms came to Earth, the people chose to leave. Now the mushrooms grow everywhere, even on the animals, yet they don't seem to do any harm. And that, it seems, is all the explanation you are going to get.

Sad and weird.

[Katarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young space traveler finds travels to a dilapidated planet earth. She explores the world post destruction to find no human’s currently living on earth, and the planet overcome with destruction and ruins. Bioluminescent fungi and greenery covers the buildings and remnants of museum artifacts, playgrounds and street lamps. The traveler comes across a device filled with pictures of what Earth use to be, people laughing and traveling, dancing and hugging. A world filled with love, laughter and wonder. The traveler begins to look around alongside the animals who have been left behind(mice, monkeys and more) in admiration of what Earth once was. She comes across a library where she discovers the books-finding connection with the imaginative and true worlds humans depicted in their storytelling. The main character, the traveler, wanders the planet in a state of awe and wonder, appreciating the vegetation on land, the oceanic views and the feeling of water when she goes into it for the first time, the night sky brightened with the sparkle of stars.
This book is entirely illustrated with no written word, leaving it up to the reader to interpret the story themselves based off the pictures they are seeing. The illustrations are gorgeous and the entire book left me with feelings of wonder, sadness and connection.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books without words, and this one did not disappoint. It is a touching story of a young space traveler who visits Earth and finds no people, just ruins and animals and clues to what life had been like. Though sad, her curiosity brought this story to life and kept me hopeful.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young astronaut girl takes a trip to Earth and discovers that the planet is abandoned.
There are strange glowing mushrooms, exotic animals, a library, and a space station. She finds an old-fashion Viewfinder, which shows the progress of the human abandonment of Earth and all Earth was in its glory. Ultimately, will she make it back to her other planet? Is she...alone?

Part Wall-E, part Lorax, part Passengers, incredible illustrations, and a wordless graphic novel make this the perfect Earth Day read.
Happy Earth Day and thank you for the recommended read.

[Shanlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Viewfinder by Christine D.U. Chung and Salwa Majok is a gorgeous, wordless graphic novel for kids, but its appeal stretches far beyond its intended audience of 6-9-year-olds. At just 144 pages, this whimsical and thought-provoking story is ageless—captivating for adults as much as children.

A young girl travels through space, collecting trinkets along the way, until a star leads her to Earth. She lands in a school abandoned of human life, but within a “time capsule,” she finds a VIEWFINDER. This marks the start of a treasure hunt, where she follows clues to discover signs of life—trees, flowers, animals, and glowing mushrooms—rising to meet her on her journey through the city. The story unravels in layers, teasing at the mystery of a planet once full of life, now quiet and forgotten.

The story sparks curiosity: What happened to Earth? Where did the people go? Is she alone? The answers are left to the imagination, inviting readers to dive deeper into the possibilities.

This beautifully illustrated book is a perfect read for children, offering an engaging adventure and valuable lessons about the importance of nurturing the world around us. Viewfinder will inspire kids’ imaginations, while also encouraging reflection on the planet we share. It’s a story best experienced together—whether with a child or on your own, it invites discussion and exploration.

A big thank you to Tundra Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy for review.

[deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I too would like to travel the universe and collect little rock specimens and follow treasure maps :3

[Kirin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a breathtaking book! The illustrations say so much and engage the reader in this picture book with no text. The world that once was, explored through the eyes of an astronaut seeing it juxtaposed with the world it is now, is both thought provoking and heart warming. With hints of diverse characters that once occupied the planet we see a few Muslims in the illustrations in this work of art coauthored by a Pakistani-Canadian.

Books like this show story telling is more than just words, it allows the reader to engage themselves in understanding what the pictures are saying and also in providing their own imagination to what could be happening. An absolute must on classroom and library shelves. As my mother, a decades long ESL and reading teacher would say, "Let kids tell the story, even if they cannot read it."

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great graphic novel which has zero text and the artwork is stunning. My son picked it up from the library on a whim and it was a complete surprise as I have never heard anyone mention this book anywhere. It’s about a girl who finds Earth after meteors probably destroyed the civilization on it. She happens to find an object which shows some old photographs of humans and how the cities looked like. We also learn that some humans left Earth on spaceships and probably colonized other planets, which explains why this girl looks like a human (her ancestors might have left Earth). It has an open ending and I really liked this graphic novel.

Spoilers:

She finds a cat and there is a human hiding in the space station from which she leaves Earth in a space ship. He makes a note of her planet to which she left probably so he might also escape Earth, thanks to this girl.
It is also not clear if the photographs of the girl child is of herself or some other girl. It is left to interpretation I guess as there is no text.

[Nathan Meier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good! There are no words, but the story is told well visually. This and the lack of chapters had me wondering at first how long it would be. I would say it’s got three-four or so chapters worth of material and that it’s not a long book.
I have a View Master so it was cool to see how it was used in the story and in inspiration for the visuals. It’s a story about treasuring the past and where we live. There’s one part of the book with some books in it. I especially like that they all seem to be referencing real books, though there’s one of them I’m not sure what the real life equivalent is.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wordless painted graphic novel is stunning in every sense of the word. The illustration is truly breath-taking and the story is quietly transportive. I spent my time both trying to solve the mystery of what happened here while also taking in this strange new world reclaimed by nature in alien ways. It’s given me a lot to think about. (I also think it’s fun that the artists have known each other since middle school and were quite young when they finished this work.)

[Deke Moulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful art and a surreal story!

[Roxana Rathbun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a beautiful book! I've never read a wordless graphic novel but this one was a great one to start with. I loved looking at the images and figuring out what happened.

[Juleigh Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations telling a lovely story!

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a beautiful lovely book.

[Supermomochan (PeachyFishyBooks)]

💛💛

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet, gentle, and magical, this wordless, futuristic adventure brings to mind Shaun Tan for the elementary school set. Filled with imagination and open-ended enough that kids can create their own story for the images.

[Gabriella Davila · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this tale may have no words, the pictures speak thousands. It's the perfect book to sit and flip through to allow the reader to paint the story in their minds. It follows a main character through a seemingly forgotten land, showcasing the old world and current as they view it within the story. Even without the words the point of the main character being a space traveller and their endless curiousties about what they find around them on a seemingly abandoned earth is easily understood. The story is left entirely open ended and up to the reader to interpret. In a way this is a wonderful thing for stimulating young and old minds alike to think of the endless possibilities that the story's images leave available to them. It also allows them to think on complex topics like being lost, what could end the world around us if we aren't careful, and traveling far from home.
From another point of view, due to it's lack of words, it is lacking in complex wording and there are so many questions left unanswered.
The questions and interpretations of this book are what make it so extrodinary, however even I did find something within them to bother me and bother potentional readers. That one thing was the ending whereas it seemed to be that the author/artist paved the way to two more possible stories but left off without delving further towards either of them. This may be entirely intentional to keep the reader thinking about the story and various different possibilities. If so, it was done abruptly but also very well.

[AllyP Reads Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice wordless graphic novel. The pictures were good, but the story had some holes. The space girl visits Earth and learns about how the place used to look and through flashbacks we see how the people planned and then left Earth. The space girl finds some animals that have mushrooms growing out of them but don't seem harmed or bothered by this in any way. This asks the question- why did the humans leave? It is impossible that so many humans could have flown away from the planet so there would still be numerous people about. And even if the mushrooms killed humans but not other animals, where's all the dead bodies? And if humans had figured out that these mushrooms killed people, it would have been too late to built spaceships and leave also so that doesn't make sense. It's a kid's book and I'm overthinking it, I know.

[Jessica's Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This stunning, spectacular wordless graphic novel is a clever tribute championing the care of the world. A sweet adventure that can be shared for any age group, but especially those in the elementary/primary age group. The soft hues on the pages hone in and play with light that draws your attention through the scenes. Highly recommend and look forward to seeing it on shelves.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguine Random House (Canada) for sponsoring this ARC for an honest review.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wordless story with brilliantly colored, highly appealing art. "Graphic Novel" is appropriate because this is a story told in pictures, though no word bubbles.

I found the story of a young visitor to an Earth abandoned by humans (or is it?) appealing and easy to work out. A child may be more confused but will enjoy the animals and other sights the visitor comes across. There's no sorrow (no one died) but a bittersweetness. Children might wonder how such a young being can travel on their own--it's as if space flight is as common and safe as riding a bicycle around the neighborhood. Also the time period is odd--most elements point at the 1960s but the museum-building design and some other elements are more 1980s, near-contemporary, or an imagined future, so it's not quite *this* Earth.

Not for every child, but for imaginative elementary-school kids, children who like to tell their own story based on pictures, and children who enjoy colorful illustrations with lots to see and think about. For younger kids (ages 5-8 ish), best 'read' with a teen or adult to discuss elements and answer questions.

[L.B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story couldn't have been published at a better time, what with the total solar eclipse coming up! It may not be about the solar eclipse or an eclipse of any kind, but the space theme would still makes this a great story for time right now.
It is rare to find stories that need no words to tell them, and to accomplish the fact flawlessly. It is very difficult to tell any story through pictures alone, without any text (even dialog or speech bubbles!), and create a whole and cohesive story. Yet, this does it wonderfully!
The story itself, feels a little sad to me. The world, what would be Earth, is just abandoned. Leaving the world almost like a tomb of forgotten memories and a hope for a future, after a terrestrial/extra-terrestrial incident that pushes the people to flee. The saddest aspect, though, are the lives and remnants left behind. Only to be found again when the future generation, who has no knowledge of the forgotten world, finds and starts to uncover the history that made her family leave.

[Aurelia Lovelace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book to my little sister, and we both really enjoyed it. At first, my sister was a little worried she may not like the book as much because there weren’t any words, but those worries were soon forgotten when we actually jumped into the book. The book pulled her in and made her really think about what was happening. It left a lot of room for wondering, creativity, and imagination. It was also interesting to see the main character’s adventures. She felt connected to her because she felt like she could see what the character could see. The illustrations were also very beautiful, and I’m not just saying that. They really were absolutely gorgeous. My sister specifically liked the pictures of the animals. The ending was a little bit of a shock. It was surprising and bittersweet, which my sister is not a fan of, but she and I still really liked this book. We would definitely recommend this to young children.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Viewfinder is an extraordinary wordless graphic novel that tells its story entirely through stunning illustrations. Set in a science fiction world, it follows a young space traveler who visits Earth, only to find it abandoned, with animals roaming through overgrown, deserted spaces. As she explores, she discovers an old Viewmaster, offering glimpses into the world before a possible catastrophe. The eerie blue mushrooms growing across the landscape—sometimes even on the animals—add an unsettling touch.

The beautifully haunting portrayal of a human-free Earth evokes a quiet sense of melancholy, serving as a powerful reminder to appreciate and protect the beauty of our planet. The more time you spend with this book, the more its subtle, emotional depth unfolds. Despite being wordless, Viewfinder speaks volumes, offering a quiet, yet profound adventure.

A special thank you to LibraryThing for the Early Reader copy.

[Karen Reeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love wordless picture books! This was more first time to encounter a completely wordless graphic novel. I had my boys "read" it as well. We all really enjoyed it. It was fun to find myself thinking the story in my head without being told what words to think. There were so many reading skills that are practiced here like inferencing, story connections, predictions, problem/resolution, etc. I also thought it was fun that (I felt) there were opportunities for different interpretations of parts of the story. This book could be used for enjoyment by so many regardless of reading level. I also see it as a great tool to work with those who have different language background or limited reading skills.

[Lacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Viewfinder is a rare beautiful story full of life and love and light but has absolutely no written words. It's storytelling at it's finest. There are literal panels I wish I could own as posters for my walls. In Viewfinder we have a space traveler visiting an abandoned Earth in the future. She still finds beauty and wonder and the extraordinary ordinary that we in the present take for granted everyday. I know it is aimed at a younger audience but I think any age can enjoy and benefit from reading it to remind ourselves to stop and smell the roses and maybe pet a cat or two. Viewfinder belongs in any and all libraries.

*Thank you to Tundra Books for providing me with a review copy.*

[Dolores · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young space explorer lands on a deserted world. In the courtyard of what looks like a school, she finds a time capsule of toys--and an old View-Master-style toy. The images on the view master show her what the world was like before and give her clues as to what happened and where all the people went. As she travels through the silent, empty world she discovers that the man-made things may have crumbled, but nature has flourished. Overgrown plants are taking back the landscape and the animals might be coated with luminescent goo, but they don't fear her. The pictures are lush and luminous and the reader feels the same wonder as our little traveler. A gorgeous graphic novel.

[Ariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautifully adventurous dystopian graphic novel is one of my favorites of the year. The adventure in rediscovering something that our species has only taken for granted through eyes of someone who's never seen it before it was fascinating. I obviously loved her discovering my childhood favorite books in a dilapidated library with some not so common animal friends. There was also a real sense of danger, and you know it was a good book when you worry for your main character lol I'm so glad I have this random library find ❤️❤️

The art is the storytelling, which makes the art style even that much more elevated. I absolutely loved it.