Quite simply one of the loveliest, most dazzlingly beautiful graphic novels I've ever read. 

The experience of an adventure out at sea as a small kid is one I hold close to my heart, since I share very similar memories. The best memories I have in my life are partly from the woods on the hill above our neighborhood where I hiked and climbed and played, where wild kids like us happily forgot about civilization, and partly from exploring the woods on small uninhabited islands my family sailed to on our little voyages in the southern Baltic Sea. Our tiny sailboat was like a ship to me and my sister. In this story that’s full of wonderful surprises, we follow the little girl Ximi and her big brother Tao and their parents Rudi and Sol, living a harmonious nature-connected life at sea, with many new friends in many cultures on islands and along the coast. 

Ximi loves the animals and nature she gets to see and befriend, but she also longs for lasting human friendship. In every other chapter, we see Rudi and Sol's past and why they chose a life as nomads, and we really do understand them and are happy for their journey from pain to joy and independence. It's so heartwarming for us readers to discover these welcoming wild places along with Ximi. As we eagerly turn the pages to see what will happen next, our smile grows with each new scene.

There are no words that can do justice to how much I love each word and each choice of lively line and sunfilled colour in each panel. True soulful beauty.

Julie Ricossé has shown us how a joyful and meaningful story should be, how it should end and go on long after, and for me, for lifting my soul at a time when I truly needed it, she's a lifesaver.