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Ruben
Ruben's dreams were of places that made no sense to him. Places that didn't exist. At least not anymore. Ruben is a triumph of Bruce Whatley's imaginative and technical skills.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2017
1 person is currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Bruce Whatley
127 books25 followersBruce jumped into the unknown world of picture books after a career in advertising as an Illustrator and art director working in London then Sydney. Since 1992 Bruce has written and/or illustrated over 80 children’s picture books. Though based in Australia his work is published internationally and in 2014 was included in the Bologna Children’s Book Fair Exhibition.
His award winning titles include The Ugliest Dog in the World, Looking for Crabs, Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase, Diary of a Wombat, The Little Refugee, Flood, Fire, And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda and Cyclone.
His main inspiration has been his family, who feature in several of his earlier picture books, his wife Rosie Smith being co-author on many of his projects. He uses a variety of illustration medium including gouache, pen and ink, pencil, oils, watercolour and more recently CGI software. His aim is to entertain and surprise the reader with illustration styles that vary considerably depending on the text and the age group of his audience.
Bruce completed his PhD, in 2008 Left Hand Right Hand: implications of ambidextrous image making looking at the image making of the non-dominant hand discovering that in most people the ability to draw lies in using the ‘other’ hand. He has since illustrated 3 books with his non-dominant left hand.
Bruce is continually looking for new innovative ways to make images to tell his visual narratives.
His award winning titles include The Ugliest Dog in the World, Looking for Crabs, Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase, Diary of a Wombat, The Little Refugee, Flood, Fire, And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda and Cyclone.
His main inspiration has been his family, who feature in several of his earlier picture books, his wife Rosie Smith being co-author on many of his projects. He uses a variety of illustration medium including gouache, pen and ink, pencil, oils, watercolour and more recently CGI software. His aim is to entertain and surprise the reader with illustration styles that vary considerably depending on the text and the age group of his audience.
Bruce completed his PhD, in 2008 Left Hand Right Hand: implications of ambidextrous image making looking at the image making of the non-dominant hand discovering that in most people the ability to draw lies in using the ‘other’ hand. He has since illustrated 3 books with his non-dominant left hand.
Bruce is continually looking for new innovative ways to make images to tell his visual narratives.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 27, 2018
"Together, they became part of the space between things."
Ruben. Koji. An intrepid journey through a darkened concrete nightmare. Into
Surreal brilliance. I see awards in this one's future.
May 20, 2017
Completely in love with Bruce Whatley's #Ruben.
Simple graphite pencil illustrations flood this 90-page picture book, aided by beautiful words to convey a young boy's survival in a futuristic derelict city, a kid who dreams of escape - or, at least, used to.
Shaun Tan, Mel Tregonning and Brian Selznick fans will embrace Ruben, Whatley's biggest and most imaginatively complex story.
Simple graphite pencil illustrations flood this 90-page picture book, aided by beautiful words to convey a young boy's survival in a futuristic derelict city, a kid who dreams of escape - or, at least, used to.
Shaun Tan, Mel Tregonning and Brian Selznick fans will embrace Ruben, Whatley's biggest and most imaginatively complex story.
August 2, 2017
Well, that was unexpected. This is a beautifully drawn book, with an opaque story. Ruben lives on the outskirts of Block City. His safe place holds all his things, collected from the ruins of the city. There is no certainty at the end of the story, only hope. The open-ended epilogue may not be to everyone's taste, but sometimes we need to take a brave step into the unknown. I'll be digesting this for a while, I think.
June 14, 2021
A book I picked up at the library with no blurb anywhere, no dust jacket either. Black, white and grey illustrations caught my eye so I brought it home. An unexpected story - dystopian and not totally explained. Quite interesting but I would have liked it padded out a bit more. I wonder what the YA, Children audience it’s aimed at, think of it??
January 21, 2018
One star for the story and the quality of the writing and five stars for the illustrations. The story didn’t lend anything to the beautiful art and like others, I found it to be a poor mans version of Shaun Tan’s ‘The Arrival’. Incredibly disappointing.
May 21, 2017
Will take some time to digest this book. Illustrations are exquisite.
August 7, 2017
Surreal, raw, and choking with intent beyond noble. This is Whatley at his purest and most refined, exposed and unaffected. A must have picture book experience.
January 24, 2021
In a futuristic city a boy lives alone. The city he lives in has long since been vacated and is now a mass of derelict homes and abandoned industrial zones. In the place the boy calls home, he surrounds himself with the possessions he has found and needs to survive, and he records his thoughts and feelings in a journal that is kept under his pillow. His days are repetitive. He dresses, he wanders, he hides, he returns. This is how life was in a city where nothing thrived.
Venturing out into the city is dangerous and safety is found in the shadows, out of the sight of the machines and their controllers. The boy longs to leave the city on one of the trains, “the trains that arrive overloaded and always left empty.” Up until now his efforts to board one of the trains have failed. But then he meets Koji, a girl living a similar existence to himself, and together they may be able to come up with a plan to both escape Block City…
Wow, what a picture book this is. It is a read that is particularly suited to older readers and one that would certainly offer something new for many children. It invites the reader in to something unfamiliar and immerses them in a dystopian, industrial world where nothing thrives. The incredible black and white illustrations are stunning and they expertly capture the isolation and loneliness of the boy in a city devoid of hope. There is no speech in the narrative and this really re-enforces the silence of the city and leaves the illustrations to convey the emotions and the feelings of the characters
Should go down well with fans of Shaun Tan, Mel Tregonning and David Ouimet. This dark, mysterious and at some times frightening read is a story about surviving in the face of adversity and finding a way when all hope is gone.
Recommended for 10+.
Venturing out into the city is dangerous and safety is found in the shadows, out of the sight of the machines and their controllers. The boy longs to leave the city on one of the trains, “the trains that arrive overloaded and always left empty.” Up until now his efforts to board one of the trains have failed. But then he meets Koji, a girl living a similar existence to himself, and together they may be able to come up with a plan to both escape Block City…
Wow, what a picture book this is. It is a read that is particularly suited to older readers and one that would certainly offer something new for many children. It invites the reader in to something unfamiliar and immerses them in a dystopian, industrial world where nothing thrives. The incredible black and white illustrations are stunning and they expertly capture the isolation and loneliness of the boy in a city devoid of hope. There is no speech in the narrative and this really re-enforces the silence of the city and leaves the illustrations to convey the emotions and the feelings of the characters
Should go down well with fans of Shaun Tan, Mel Tregonning and David Ouimet. This dark, mysterious and at some times frightening read is a story about surviving in the face of adversity and finding a way when all hope is gone.
Recommended for 10+.
April 2, 2018
Ruben’s dreams were of places that made no sense to him. Places that didn’t exist. At least not anymore.
Ruben, a young boy lives on the outskirts of a damaged, abandoned and futuristic city. Every day when he wakes he writes about his dreams and flicks through images of places he once knew.
Living alone, Ruben often wanders the streets, avoiding the huge machines that live in Block city who destroy things humans need for survival - freedom, safety and knowledge.
One day, on his way through the city in search of food and water, he discovers Koji, another child who is also alone. Together they understand each other, share secrets and dream of escaping on one of the fast trains that leave the destroyed city.
Bruce Whatley is a master illustrator who has created this whole world in black and white - giving it the grim and abandoned feel it needs. Readers will pour over the illustrations for hours as they journey with Ruben hoping that he can escape this formidable place.
Although set in the future, the sketches of objects Bruce Whatley has included, pull on our own heart strings and lead us to think - what if? Children of all ages will ponder the possibility of places in our world that already look like this or the possibly of our own country looking like this if we don’t care for others around us.
This Dystopian world that Ruben lives in is one that young children can enter without the violence of many other Dystopian fiction books on the market.
I have explored this book with some Gifted Year 4 students and they have thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Ruben and then creating a Dystopian world of their own.
Ruben, a young boy lives on the outskirts of a damaged, abandoned and futuristic city. Every day when he wakes he writes about his dreams and flicks through images of places he once knew.
Living alone, Ruben often wanders the streets, avoiding the huge machines that live in Block city who destroy things humans need for survival - freedom, safety and knowledge.
One day, on his way through the city in search of food and water, he discovers Koji, another child who is also alone. Together they understand each other, share secrets and dream of escaping on one of the fast trains that leave the destroyed city.
Bruce Whatley is a master illustrator who has created this whole world in black and white - giving it the grim and abandoned feel it needs. Readers will pour over the illustrations for hours as they journey with Ruben hoping that he can escape this formidable place.
Although set in the future, the sketches of objects Bruce Whatley has included, pull on our own heart strings and lead us to think - what if? Children of all ages will ponder the possibility of places in our world that already look like this or the possibly of our own country looking like this if we don’t care for others around us.
This Dystopian world that Ruben lives in is one that young children can enter without the violence of many other Dystopian fiction books on the market.
I have explored this book with some Gifted Year 4 students and they have thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Ruben and then creating a Dystopian world of their own.
August 16, 2017
This is an amazing book. A children's picture book is hardly a true description.
I love every detailed drawing, every feature that Ruben abides in.
Everything is black, white and grey. Especially the shadows, he sleeps in his safe place. Ruben hides in the shadows of Block City. His life changes when he decides that he has to go outside of the section of the city he knows. He moves carefully through the dead world to the train terminus. There was always a train coming. He hid watching the train being unloaded by the machines. The streets in this part of the city were different, higher, and darker. He was not comfortable.
That's when he sees a movement on the other side of the street. A small figure; just like him.
They stay hidden from Controllers and The Listeners - all those robotic human figures. Together they moved to places Ruben hadn't been before. Through a maze of cogs and machinery, they move, through the engine room, past the Sweepers. The train carriages are locked. There is no way out of Block City.
They rest together in her safe place, in a space between things, before Ruben leaves to go back to his safe place.
It doesn't seem so safe now.
The Epilogue is brilliant! Ruben and Koji in the train carriage, the smashed lock on the floor and in his pocket is a copy of Gulliver's Travels.
This is a picture book for everyone who hopes and dreams to go beyond a dark and frightening world and move onto new places. Thanks, Bruce Whatley.
I love every detailed drawing, every feature that Ruben abides in.
Everything is black, white and grey. Especially the shadows, he sleeps in his safe place. Ruben hides in the shadows of Block City. His life changes when he decides that he has to go outside of the section of the city he knows. He moves carefully through the dead world to the train terminus. There was always a train coming. He hid watching the train being unloaded by the machines. The streets in this part of the city were different, higher, and darker. He was not comfortable.
That's when he sees a movement on the other side of the street. A small figure; just like him.
They stay hidden from Controllers and The Listeners - all those robotic human figures. Together they moved to places Ruben hadn't been before. Through a maze of cogs and machinery, they move, through the engine room, past the Sweepers. The train carriages are locked. There is no way out of Block City.
They rest together in her safe place, in a space between things, before Ruben leaves to go back to his safe place.
It doesn't seem so safe now.
The Epilogue is brilliant! Ruben and Koji in the train carriage, the smashed lock on the floor and in his pocket is a copy of Gulliver's Travels.
This is a picture book for everyone who hopes and dreams to go beyond a dark and frightening world and move onto new places. Thanks, Bruce Whatley.
November 24, 2017
If you enjoyed Shaun Tan's "The Rabbits" or the graphics of Brian Selznick books then this will appeal to you. This story is told mostly with amazingly detailed illustrations from this talented children's illustrator. While it is dramatically different from his usual style (I just love the Diary of a Wombat series) his detailed pencil drawings will capture your imagination. We brought this book for our school library and I think it will be used as much by the English Department as it will by the Art teachers.
January 25, 2018
The world can be a very scary place. Imagine if you were a solitary child – all alone.
This futuristic vision of steam and steel, created by Bruce Whatley, is Ruben’s crumbling nightmare. Our brave protagonist exists in a fractured city of moving shadows, discarded objects, and rocket-fast trains.
Sometimes all a person needs is comfort from a kindred spirit. When words are not enough, a kind gesture can give hope to a lost soul.
This futuristic vision of steam and steel, created by Bruce Whatley, is Ruben’s crumbling nightmare. Our brave protagonist exists in a fractured city of moving shadows, discarded objects, and rocket-fast trains.
Sometimes all a person needs is comfort from a kindred spirit. When words are not enough, a kind gesture can give hope to a lost soul.
November 15, 2018
Bruce Whatley is a rare talent, and this beautifully illustrated book is a fine example of how to do a picture book, that is somewhat esoteric and embraces the strangeness of life, whilst being accessible, and also is entertaining and readable by all ages. Picture books should not be just for the young, and this book is for all. An amazing and great book.
August 31, 2017
The illustrations alone take your breathe away and then you add the written story!
October 30, 2017
A beautiful book
June 17, 2018
Stunning illustrations, reminiscent of Shaun Tan's work. Beautiful story too.
July 27, 2018
This was just beautiful. A picture book set in a steampunk dystopia with a gorgeous ending. The art is just wonderful.
February 7, 2021
stunning illustrations and gorgeous text.
May 7, 2025
The illustrations are amazing.
August 29, 2023
The drawings are fantastic. The story was really short and didn't draw me in emotionally.
I felt we could have gotten a little bit more information. The book had a great beginning and end, but for me something was missing in the middle.
I felt we could have gotten a little bit more information. The book had a great beginning and end, but for me something was missing in the middle.
October 4, 2021
Stunning, detailed pencil illustrations of a twisted wreckage of a city, presented in muted greys and sepia hues provide the setting. Ruben is a lone child survivor in this bleak mechanical world. He dreams of escaping on the railway and on an exploratory mission to the industrialised sector he makes a friend, a girl, also living alone and struggling to exist without being noticed by the robotic workers. A strange story of the beginning of friendship and the possibility of a better future that is far removed from Whatley's more typical work. I found it hard to assign an audience, maybe upper primary with support, but more appropriate for older readers - though i am not sure who would read for pleasure - it is more likely to be picked up be teachers to use in the classroom. Although I appreciated the quality of the production and skill in story telling, the story itself did not resonate.
September 8, 2019
Expected so much. Hugely disappointed. The story is aimless and unresolved. It has little emotional pull. Text too frequently mimics image. The scope for visual narrative was woefully underemployed and to me, this work seemed indulgent, as though the story was shoe-horned to fit a series of stand alone images of a certain style and theme (Dystopian). Whatley is unquestionably talented, but the illustrations are frequently awkward and imperfect. For such a master, something as basic as character consistency should have been a given. I read this ten times and still didn’t know what it was about, on any meaningful level. Yep. Disappointed.
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February 20, 2018Beautifully illustrated in black and white reminiscent of Brian Selznick Ruben lives in a futuristic dystopia on his own until he finds company.
Great for writing prompts in upper elementary
Great for writing prompts in upper elementary
April 26, 2018
From the outset Bruce describes the daring he had to muster in order to realise this particular creation. Attempting to subvert one's natural, and indeed most comfortable tendencies, in all parts of life is commendable. He is not afraid to make the reader work for it here, as the story connects and is woven through text and illustration. Another reviewer on Goodreads has described the story as "opaque" and I agree with the summation. I did not care for the story much in all honesty. The actual tale did not captivate me in the way most books do. However, when one takes into account the dramatic artistry of the illustration the woven effect of the text and artwork, as well as Whately's initial admission in the preface, the sum total of the review musters a comfortable 4 star rating.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews