Me, All Alone, at the End of the World by M.T. Anderson, 2005

A boy lives all alone at the end of the world (for the benefit of those who didn't read the title), enjoying the fruits of solitude: collecting fossils, hunting for treasure, listening to wind. One day a professional visionary comes and changes all that by building an inn, and completely developing the end of the world into a Disney-esque nightmare. The boy ends up moving to the top of the world. Longer picture book.