Higher Ground

By Tull Suwannakit

Reviewed by Lara Cain Gray

Tull Suwannakit is best known in the children’s fiction world as an illustrator. His work has always included rich visual storytelling, but he is now emerging as an impressive writer, too. Higher Ground is clearly a passion project, seven years in the making, incorporating elements of picture book, graphic novel and epistolary narrative. It is beautifully packaged, in the spirit of a travel journal, and will likely be compared to Shaun Tan’s The Arrival, but for a younger readership.

The story follows a grandmother, two children and their pet rabbit who are stranded on the rooftop of their apartment building after a great flood. This space becomes their world and, as the seasons pass, they discover ways to survive using Grandma’s knowledge of planting, recycling and observing the changing environment. In turn, the children bring youthful strength, creativity and optimism to the project. The book blends wordless pages of graphic novel sequencing, stunning landscape imagery, and full spread diagrams of ‘How to tie a knot’ or ‘Steps to catching a fish’ as the young boy – our narrator – documents the family’s experiences.

But just as the seasons change in the skies, the seasons of life also roll by. The flood waters are still gradually rising and the roof garden will eventually be subsumed. Grandma encourages the children to build a raft and sail away on their own. Whilst the overall message of the narrative is strength, resilience and hope, some of these scenes are quite devastating – both in terms of the loss of the grandmother, and the connotations around climate change. It could certainly spark robust conversations across many themes, including self sufficiency, grief, refugees, and notions of home and belonging. The children eventually do find a new place to call home, and use their experiences to extend compassion to others who may be lost or stranded, like they had been.

Higher Ground is highly visual, with 14 short chapters, and plenty of light and shade in both story and pictures, making it difficult to ascribe to an ideal reader. It is pitched for ages 5+, but this is the sort of immersive, cross-genre, layered storytelling that will captivate readers of many ages, in many different ways.  The book concludes with a lengthy acknowledgements page, including insights into the creative process and media used, lending itself well to classroom extension activities around collage or diary writing – which also feature in the online Teachers’ Notes.

New Frontier,  2025

Tull Suwannakit