As a result, Varmints would make a great addition to a science class exploring environmental issues and would be an interesting addition to a dystopia unit. As the book progresses, and more industrialisation and skyscrapers are built, the imagery gets darker and darker.

Both pieces--book and movie--create a dark environment through color and font choice that affect the overall mood and tone of this interesting story. I haven't even had a chacne to read this yet but the art for this is so beguilingly gorgeous that i can't help but give it 5 stars already. This book is as much him as it is me, and for our perspective to be found in such a tidy package is well worth sharing.It's an analogy for our own industrialisation, and the sacrifices we've made - and the wilderness has made. I also viewed the short film on Vimeo and enjoyed it as well; it takes the basic premise of the story and develops it a bit more--creating a real connection between the viewer and the sweet-eyed varmint. No matter what, there is always a way out of a troubling time, but there is a need to acknowledge and identify the problem. minutes long, it can be broken up into sections for viewing in the classroom (and is unfortunately interrupted anyway by pesky youtube advertising).

A crew of 35 people worked in three countries over a two year period to make the film, and an original score by Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson and sound design by Adrian Rhodes complete the picture John Maher/DotAndLine “Underpinning all this bleak beauty is a sweeping score, deeply mournful at times and industrially eerie or grandly orchestral at others” — written by the much mourned Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannson, who passed all too soon in 2018— The score to Varmints was written near the beginning of Jóhannson’s pivot from electronic chamber and ambient music toward something more cinematic—far before the composer of Englabörn and Virðulegu forsetar became better known for his work with director Denis Villeneuve on Prisoners, Sicario, and Arrival, or for his score for James Marsh’s The Theory of Everything. Children in KS2 will, I think, love the animation and the central character, and be engaged by the conversations around its content. It's an amazing picture book, very mature in subject matter, a book that you'll need to revisit again and again and ponder endlessly.Personally I do feel the narrative was a tad preachy- the demonising of "the others" with their "empty heads" has a rather "holier than thou" feel to it. The class are watching the animation of the story alongside this which adds extra information to the story. Hopefully through works like this readers of all ages will be encouraged to "nurture a little piece of wilderness" in the best ways.