A young pig learns from his inventor father how to maintain the dam that keeps their village in Sunrise Valley safe. When Pig's father disappears, it falls on Pig to keep the dam intact and the village safe. He's an outcast at school, teased and ridiculed, but he never strays from his task. But a black fog is coming, threatening the Valley and the dam. Pig, with his new friend, Fox, and the reluctant Hippo, come together to answer the threat and discover what's on the other side of the dam.

Based on the 2015 Oscar-nominated short, The Dam Keeper, this adaptation by Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi - cofounders of the animation studio Tonko House - is breathtaking. They manage to give a graphic novel a stunning landscape, where the art comes alive for readers and the empathy for their main character is bottomless. Kondo and Tsutsumi create deep characters with Pig, Fox, and Hippo; one can't help but fall in love with them and root for them.

You can rent The Dam Keeper online through YouTube and sign up for e-mails at the Tonko House website. It's a beautiful little film that the graphic novel expands upon and enhances. A definite must-add to collections; I can't wait to see what happens in Part 2.

I can't decide if this is a 3 or 4 star book, so I'll split it down the middle and call it a 3.5.

What initially drew me to this story was the beautiful cover. I am still fairly new to the world of graphic novels. And while I can definitely see the appeal and have been enjoying dipping my toes in the water, so to speak, I have noticed I'm fairly consistent in my opinions of them. More often than not my issue seems to be that I tend to find the artwork so much more appealing than the actual storyline. I'm not sure if it's because I have a hard time with the abbreviated stories that typically end somewhat abruptly because they're only a snippet of the story spread out over multiple volumes. Or perhaps I genuinely just don't care for the way they're written and developed.

I do know that, keeping to the course, I found the illustrations of this book to be totally captivating. It amazes me how the artist can so thoroughly capture and portray such a range of emotions through the one dimensional images. There was hopelessness, a bone deep sadness, terror, moodiness, confusion, and utter elation. Each page was drawn so beautifully, that I couldn't help but sit and stare.

As for the story itself, it was okay. Not bad, but not incredible either. The Dam Keeper tells the story of Pig who is responsible for maintaining the dam that cuts Sunrise Valley off from the rest of the world. For you see, there's been a terrible natural disaster of sorts- a deadly fog. Everything the fog touches dies! Then the fog begins to behave unusually, and Pig finds himself caught out in the middle of the unknown. Now he must figure out what he must do if he is to continue to protect himself and the others, because the responsibility is his and his alone. He is The Damn Keeper.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for giving me this review opportunity. While it wasn't my favorite book, I'll definitely "tune back in" for the next installment to both see what happens next to Pig & his friends and to feast my eyes on more of the delightful illustrations.

The fog was destroying the world until Pig’s father built the dam to hold it back. Now Sunrise Valley lives blissful lives practically forgetting the Dam Keeper who saves them daily from the fog by maintaining the barrier. But then the fog starts acting strangely and Pig, his best friend Foxy, and her friend (Pig’s annoyance) Hippo end up on a very unexpected adventure on the other side of the dam.

Oh boy this is slightly torturous, in the best possible way. There’s just enough to get you sucked in and super intrigued and then wham…end of book one and waiting for the next volume commences. But the creators can take that as a complement. They managed to set up a premise and mystery that I <i>need</i> answers to. The artwork is quite stunning too. Definitely purchasing this for the library and then the students will join me in eagerly awaiting book two.

(will be posted on GoodReads Aug 26)

This is a short but sweet graphic novel which is a follow up to an animated short from a few years ago. This story furthers the adventures of the characters of Fox and Pig and sees them growing up a little with Pig reflecting on traumatic events of the past.

The artistic style here, as with the animated short, is interesting in that it kind of looks like a developmental piece that has been brought to life. I found the images were interesting enough for me to complete the book even when the narrative didn't have much development.

This book could certainly be used in schools as it has a lot of elements that could be useful in class. The narrative focuses on friendship, growth, development and coping with loss while the artwork is an interesting style and one children would enjoy trying to emulate in their own work.

(Based on an ARC)

This book was not at all like I expected.

Something about the cinematic typography on the cover, and the anthropomorphic characters, had me anticipating something which would read like a Pixar short aimed at kids. And I don't mean to put it down--I'm a teacher, and it was a big part of why I requested the title.

What I found instead was an interesting, heavy, and beautiful work of art & writing. I think that what caught me the most off-guard was how fascinating and well executed the mystery aspect of this is, as well as how dark and thoughtful the story and

The premise is that Pig, our MC, lives in Sunrise Valley, the (supposedly) last vestige of life that has managed to thwart the black Fog: a mysterious and ominous sort of smog that comes in waves and kills all that it touches.

Pig's father was the architect of the Dam: an enormous structure that protects the valley from the onslaught of the fog, dispelling it with a windmill and keeping it at bay.
But Pig's father lost his mind after the death of Pig's mother, and after teaching his son the secrets of operating the Dam and protecting the townsfolk from the fog, he takes his own life by walking out to the other side of the Dam.
​
Throughout all of this, you see the nature of Pig's life: still a child, he's what stands between the people of the valley and certain death. He carries this weight, all while living his life as an outsider.

You end up having so many feelings about Pig! You want to slap the townsfolk around and remind them of what they owe this kid; and you want to take Pig out for an ice cream and try to remind him that his life doesn't have to be doom and gloom 24/7.

But then, it's like--EVERYONE should be more concerned about the doom and gloom situation. They're living in this bubble, and they don't seem to view the Fog as a real threat anymore. They don't take it (or Pig, or Pig's father) seriously.
​
Obviously, our story picks up as the Fog changes in nature and begins to present a new kind of threat. ​And what's more, our cast of characters is thrown from the town out into a perilous wasteland where they begin to see the Fog as more than they had every understood it to be.

Let's talk art style. The comp that keeps coming to mind is The Secret of Kells, the award winning animated movie. It's cinematic, and moody, and mysterious, and a little scary. Things fade into darkness and melt away; the fog and the wasteland beyond the valley are dark and dreary and foreboding, but our characters and the valley are bright and full of brilliant light. It's beautifully rendered.

As an educator user of Netgalley, I'm always asked whether I would adopt this text for my classroom or curriculum--I absolutely would. I think that at the middle grade or high school level, this would be a fantastic text to discuss the way the story and the art style work in tandem. I can imagine, just off the top of my head, lessons on illustrating natural disasters; character design; world building illustration; maybe even something where students would bring in a short text or poem and illustrate it to convey the mood of the written piece through use of color. The classroom discussions would be amazing, because this can be read at a variety of different levels: some students may focus more on Pig's relationship with his classmates, or his relationship with his father, or the myth facets with the Fog and the general plotline. It would be a fantastic text to read, and I would definitely recommend it to my students.

The first book in what, I assume, will be a series "The Dam Keeper" reminds me a little bit of the Amulet series. In that the drawings are almost "cutesty" but the story is more serious and a little dark. It's a unique and interesting idea that I think will fit in perfectly with what other middle schoolers are reading.

With its unique setting, and an ever-present danger so vast, so mysterious, and so potentially destructive, Kondo and Tsutsumi's instantly draws its readers into their created world within just the first few pages, and at the last pages leaves them starving for more, all in the best way imaginable. For those who want a new and extremely different graphic novel experience, this is the place to start.

Absolutely beautiful art, lovely story, adorable and real characters (even though they are little animal kids). I can;t wait for the next volumes!

Interesting. lovely, and expressive art and storyline, but the pace drags somewhat and I didn't feel there was enough delivery and content given. I want more, which is a good thing, but it was a little frustrating not to get more in the first place.

The artwork is intricate and captivating. As I read along, scenes clearly played through my head as if it were a short film. There is both an innocence and darkness to the story, which balances out the characters and storyline well. I hope there's a continuation in the future!

I knew the minute I opened this book I had seen it before. It was an award nominated animated short film. I loved it when I saw it, and I love the graphic novel even more. The graphic novel actually has words to tell you what is going on. Where did the smoke come from? Where did the pig’s dad go? This is a beautiful story of friendship and duty, and making both work.

Added Litsy
Added Goodreads

What a dark story. I wish I had seen the film. Maybe it would have made more sense to me. The artwork was wonderful. That's what first drew my attention to the book.
I don't read a lot of graphic novels, so I'm not used to the jumpy nature of the storyline, but I might talk to some students about it and see if they think we should add it to our library.

The story begins in an oasis of normalcy within a post-apocalyptic wasteland. An underappreciated child charged with the great responsibility to keep the town safe by maintaining the wall that keeps out *the fog* but who also faces the pressures of school, fitting in, and bullying. When catastrophe strikes, he finds himself in new territory, haunted by images of his father. The characters are different animals, and the watercolor illustrations in a muted palette perfectly evoke the fog and the fear. This book is the first part of a longer series, and I look forward to reading more.

Sad, disturbingly scary, funny - it's all in this graphic novel. Wonderful pictures that accentuate the great story.

I enjoyed this graphic novel. At first I wasn't sure, I was surprised when I started to see the characters were animals. This had a different feel than graphics I have read in the past. I think the students in my school who love graphic novels will really like this and will be looking forward to book 2.

I am sorry but this did not work for me at all. It was quite strange but I could have gotten past that. It is the story of pig, whose father created a windmill that protects the town from a deadly fog. His father, however, has disappeared and now pig is left in charge of the windmill. Pig is often bullied, mostly by hippo so it is an interesting dynamic when pig, his best friend Fox, and Hippo end up having to work together to keep the fog from overrunning the town. My biggest issue with the book was that it barely got started and it was over... and now we wait for the next book. No thank you. When a book ends that abruptly I rarely buy it for the library. If it really becomes popular I will wait until a few more in the series come out. I didn't know this was based on a short movie until I looked the book up on Amazon.

This is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel that will draw readers in and leave them wanting more.

Incredible art, intriguing story and such a frustrating cliffhanger! I need to know more about the fog - what is it? where did it come from? What is this new mysterious city? Is Pig's dad alive? So many questions!

This is a perfect storm of a graphic novel: hauntingly beautiful artwork, relatable characters, an intriguing and mysterious plot, and, oh, the atmosphere! Everything is so well done, and the images match and accentuate the text, which is very well written, perfectly. The scary bits are scary, the funny bits are funny, and the sad bits? They’ll make you misty.

Dam Keeper tells the tale of school-aged Pig, who is charged with maintaining the dam/windmill that protects his town from the deadly fog surrounding it. It’s a position he’s inherited from his missing/vanished-presumed-dead parents and a legacy he takes very seriously -- to the detriment of his social standing. He’s the only one that seems to realize that the fog is beginning to behave erratically, and when Pig, along his best friend, Fox, and not-so-best-friend, Hippo, finds himself lost on the other side of the dam, he may just begin to unravel the fog’s mysteries.

The story ends abruptly, as so many middle-grad graphic novels are want to do, so expect many an enthralled patron to come in anxious search of the next installment. A good pick for fans of the Amulet series, I think.