The Wildebeest and the Badger

Ana Pessoa & Madalena Matoso

Sometimes we go up in the air. The wind pushes us to new places and off we go with it.

That’s what happened to the wildebeest and the badger in this story. And it’s also what happened to this book—it flipped and turned and got all mixed up.

Who could there be, on the other side of the wind?

The truth is we never know. All we can do is hoping it’s someone really nice, who turns the light on and welcomes us into their home.

Press voices

“A distracted gnu fails to listen to the wise words of a pine tree. And so he ends up on the other side of the wind, where he meets a friendly badger. Following a pleasant meal together, the gnu prepares to make his way back home and the narrative could perfectly well stop there. It would be enough, with all its adventure, imagination, the poetic image of a voyage and the unknown, the humour brought by its unsuspecting characters. Not to mention the expressively bold colours, its vibrant contrasts, its cut-out geometry.” Andreia Brites, Blimunda magazine

“Once again, Madalena’s illustrations achieve a state of pure joy: half figurative, half abstract – painting which is totally concrete. When they say that a picturebook is normally a child’s first contact with art, this must be what they’re talking about.” Sara Amado, Prateleira-de-baixo blog

“Pessoa’s text is a delightful frolic, and Matoso’s illustrations are disconcertingly beautiful. Little paintings that we might look at with children as if wandering through an exhibition. (…) One of our favourite books of this bizarre 2020!” Hipopómatos na Lua blog

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