A sophisticated and original graphic novel, about a young boy's reaction to his father's death.

Harvey and his little brother are playing in the slushy streets of early spring when they learn, out of the blue, that their father has died of a heart attack. Everything changes and Harvey’s favorite movie, The Incredible Shrinking Man, suddenly begins to dominate his fantasy life. When relatives try to get him to look at his father in his coffin, Harvey finds himself disappearing.

Brilliantly illustrated, emotionally true and devastatingly sad, this book is an artful and utterly convincing study of one boy’s response to great loss.

Key Text Features
speech bubbles

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2
Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6
Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3
Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

Herve Bouchard is a professor of literature at the Cegep de Chicoutimi and a novelist. His novel Parents et amis sont invites a y assister won the 2006 Grand prix du livre de Montreal. Harvey, his first children's book, won Governor General's awards for text and illustration. Herve lives in Saguenay, Quebec.

Herve Bouchard's profile page

Janice Nadeau studied graphic design at the Université du Québec à Montréal and illustration at the École supérieure des arts décoratifs de Strasbourg (France) before working as an art director for various organizations. Over the years she has illustrated a number of books and is a three-time recipient of the Governor General’s Award for Illustration. Nadeau has an evocative, poetic and sophisticated style, which blends both retro and modern aesthetics. Her fine and intricate line work can be seen through her soft watercolours, whose multitude of details bring a rich touch to her compositions. Nadeau lives in Montréal, Québec, where she teaches illustration at the École de design of Université du Québec à Montréal. For more information, visit www.janicenadeau.com.

Janice Nadeau's profile page

Helen Mixter is a writer and the translator of several children's books, including the Governor General's Award-winning Harvey.

Helen Mixter's profile page

...emotionally intelligent and aesthetically resonant.

Quill & Quire

A sparse, evocative look at a father’s death...Harvey's child’s-eye perspective is flawlessly conveyed.

Kirkus Reviews

...a great graphic novel to give to a younger child trying to understand the pain of bereavement.

School Library Journal