Author: Charlotte Moundlic – Illustrated by Olivier Tallec.
Publisher: Walker Books, 2011.
I’m completely stunned: a children book - with a blue sticker on the cover, which means a concept book in our library – that begins with: “Mum died this morning…” As far as I know, children’s stories never deal with death, it’s too touchy. So is this a story of a bad dream? I read on, and no, the little boy’s mum is really gone forever.
Within 30 pages, in simple words and subtle illustrations, this is a story of how this little boy dealt with his pain and his anger: “ I shouted that if it was going to be like that, I wouldn’t be her son any more, that she shouldn’t have had a kid if she was going to leave before he was grown up”; and his trying to take care of his dad “who’s been abandoned like this”, who “looked like a flannel, all crumpled and wet”.
Most moving of all is his effort to hold on to his mum‘s memories: “I closed the window so that I could keep breathing Mum’s smell in”; “I plug my ears, cover my eyes and shut my mouth to keep the sound of her voice with me”… He grazed himself while playing in the garden and heard his mum’s voice, so he kept scratching the scab just to hear it again and again…
Then one day Grandma turned up, and opened the window, and pandemonium: “I shout and cry and scream, “No! Don’t open the windows! Mum’s going to disappear for good…” And it was Grandma who soothed all his pain: “She puts her hand, then my hand, on my heart. “She’s there, in your heart, and she’s not going anywhere.”
It is such a beautiful and very sad story, full of little gems: “I think it hurts him (Dad) to look at me because I have my mum’s eyes.” He opens his arms to me, I throw myself into them, and my heart beats so hard I can almost hear Mum whispering “Go on, my little man, go on…” “…I see that the scab is gone. It’s turned into a scar without my noticing… The skin is all smooth, all new…”
Would this story soothe a little boy who lost his mum?? I do hope so, although the reasoning and the concept are at adult’s level – but it certainly soothes me, I‘ve lost my mum too.
Thanh
2 comments:
Quoi de plus terrible pour un enfant que de perdre sa maman ? Avec son père, notre petit bonhomme fait face comme il peut, mais la vie bien sûr n'est plus pareille sans elle. Il ferme bien les fenêtres malgré la chaleur, pour garder le plus longtemps possible son odeur à l'intérieur. Et puis un jour il tombe et s'écorche le genou. Il saigne et il entend la voix rassurante de sa maman. Alors dès qu'une croûte se forme, il la gratte, parce que tant que le sang sera là, il gardera la voix de sa maman. Mais la vie continue, même si c'est injuste. Sa grand-mère saura trouver les mots, bien sûr qu'il n'oubliera jamais sa maman, et il laissera la croûte cicatriser sans s'en rendre compte....
Un très bel album, très sensible et tout en douceur, sur le deuil et le cheminement à faire. Les illustrations d'Olivier Tallec sont sublimes, portées essentiellement par le rouge (du sang, de la colère), et quelques tons pastels.
Un album précieux sur la douleur de perdre sa maman. C'est triste bien sûr, mais malgré tout une pointe d'humour transparaît, avec au bout, une lueur d'espoir, parce que la vie continue, toujours.
Bác Thanh ơi,
Lúc này em có nhiều nỗi bận tâm nên đọc thư không được kỹ. Giờ mới nghe Út nói là bài bình luận "The Scar" là của bác viết! Thiệt là thiếu sót. Bài hay lắm, đưa quotations đúng lúc, lời bình thấm thía. Em nghiệm những tiếng nói từ con tim thương hay một cách không cố gắng. Té ra bác T cũng "câu" nước mắm như ai (và cũng một cách không cố ý).
Dì Ba
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