The Eyes and the Impossible, by Dave Eggers

Each Friday that school is in session, I share the link to a read-aloud preview of a book from SRCSA library. The “First-chapter Friday” selection for March 8, 2024 is The Eyes and the Impossible, by Dave Eggers.

Johannes, a free dog, lives in an urban park by the sea. His job is to be the Eyes — to see everything that happens within the park and report back to the park’s elders, three ancient Bison. His friends — a seagull, a raccoon, a squirrel, and a pelican — work with him as the Assistant Eyes, observing the humans and other animals who share the park and making sure the Equilibrium is in balance. But changes are afoot. More humans, including Trouble Travelers, arrive in the park. A new building, containing mysterious and hypnotic rectangles, goes up. And then there are the goats — an actual boatload of goats — who appear, along with a shocking revelation that changes Johannes’s view of the world. The Eyes and the Impossible was the winner, in 2024, of the John Newbery Medal. Named for 18th-century British bookseller John Newbery, the medal is “awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children” (From ALSC: Awards, Grants, and Scholarships: Book Awards).
https://youtu.be/6IkkNPFSNOE