In the same time and space, children and adults have many opposite "preferences". Adults will nag and go to bed early and get up early, but children hate eating and sleeping the most. In different time and space, every adult was once a child, and every child will eventually become an adult. Children don't know what the adult world is like, and adults will always forget what it's like to be a child.
There are many children's books that want to open a door on the wall between adults and children, and the "Dear Kids" series created by Italian illustrator Beatrice Almania is one such picture book. They are "Dear Little Child", "Don't Be Afraid of Those Little Dead, Dear Little Children" and "Dear Glass Child".
"Dear Little Kids" series, [Meaning] by Beatrice Almania, produced by Fantasy Nation. Age of readability: 3+.
The first two books express the needs, emotions, habits and fears for the children in the same language as the poems, and how different they are from the adults. Children also have children's "contradictions", they are innocent and full of creativity, but they will also be sad in the face of those small deaths in growth. The third book tells the story of a glass child who is admired by adults for being born transparent, but is also blamed by adults for her inability to hide dark thoughts in her brain when she grows up transparent... Just like many children are pampered but live in chains.
Illustrator Beatrice Almania, who has been nominated for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen International Awards, knows the world of children very well, and her "A Good Day to Do Nothing" is also a picture book that encourages children to get rid of the rules of adulthood and freely let go of their hearts.
A Great Day of Doing Nothing, by Artis Almania, Le Fun | Shaanxi People's Education Publishing House, June 2018.
She said on her website, "When I was a child, my heroes were Pippi Longstocking, Carlsson the Little Trapezee... When I was 8 years old, I decided that no matter what the cost, I would grow up to be a painter and novelist."
Below is a book review of these three books. I hope that every child who grows up will not forget what they said when they were young.
Dear little one, how would you tell others about your childhood?
Peter Pan begins with these two sentences: "All children have to grow up, with one exception." All children soon know that they are going to grow up in the future. Thus, this exceptional, small Peter Pan became a spiritual symbol of eternal childhood. And what about the grown-up children?
When childhood is gone, when they are no longer "dear children", when they can no longer fly lightly in the reality of bearing weights, in the long life that follows, perhaps they will continue to remember and look back at the years of their childhood. It is this era of childhood, which never returns, together with the title of "dear child" with infinite beautiful reverie, that has become a unique landscape in literature.
Illustration of "Dear Little Child".
The "Dear Children" series created by the italian picture book author Beatrice Almania is a masterpiece of writing childhood, which hooks up our softest and gentle inner secrets, stirs up our most innocent imagination and yearning, and after careful reading and appreciation, what is left for us may be mixed with emotion, touching and including sentimental complex emotions.
Immersed and intoxicated by the picture book, after stepping out of the story of the ensemble of the text, we may be able to re-examine the world with a more rational and clear gaze, more introspective and independent thinking, and a broader and more inclusive mind, and give every growing "dear child" a better understanding and care.
The "Dear Little Kids" series consists of three works: "Dear Little Kids," "Don't Be Afraid of Those Little Dead, Dear Kids, and Dear Glass Kids." The first two books can be described as sister articles, which are the author's affectionate words for "dear children", observations and reflections on the adult world and the children's world, various possible worries and worries about the imminent encounter of a child's growth, and more importantly, the words based on love and care.
Both books have dedications, "to all the adults who have never forgotten their toy dogs" and "to the man who thinks he has lost everything." The two simple dedications are chic and timeless, and beneath the words are complex emotions about childhood and growing children.
Such a dedication naturally reminds me of Kestner's influential words. In his "Opening Speech", he issued a message to his dear children, "Don't forget your childhood". In his view, the vast majority of people grow up, "like taking off an old hat, they have long forgotten their childhood." At the same time, when the children grow up and gain a firm foothold in the world, "childhood becomes a superfluous ladder behind them, and it will be sawn off by others, so that you can never return to the original place." In this sense, childhood is a kind of existence that is constantly lost and looked back.
This kind of growth loss is exactly the point of "Don't Be Afraid of Those Little Dead, Dear Children". "In life, many things will leave us, they will change" set the tone of the book, from the most daily sleep, scars and other physical things to the spiritual level of music, games, these passing away is a good memory.
Illustration of "Don't Be Afraid of Those Little Dead, Dear Little Children".
But not all that has passed is beautiful, and there are also unsatisfactory thoughts that fade with the passage of time, just like dark thoughts. In this process, we continue to lose, constantly recognize ourselves, become strong, begin to accept everything around us calmly, and learn to overcome fear, and feel the changes brought to us by the years in the rotation of seasons, just like the fallen hair, baby teeth, like dust that has gone and gone, and has always been there.
Many things in the world have their rationality of existence and passing, and they are with us and accompany us forever. This one seems to be an elegy for childhood, but fortunately it is sad and not sad, especially the loving embrace of mother and child at the end - "Everything will eventually disappear, drift away or change." But there is only one thing, it will not, and it will never dissipate, never will. ”
Although words do not directly tell us what is eternal, in the narrative of organic interweaving of graphics and text, in the details that show the daily life of children, we have the answer: what will not dissipate? What will lay a firm and powerful spiritual background for a child's growth?
It is also in this sense that "only those who grow up and maintain a childlike heart can become real people", which shows the meaning. Every "dear child" will grow up to be an adult, and there will be a small passing away in the growth, so that we all strive to become an adult who lives in the heart of "dear child" and can walk freely in the adult world and do what the heart wants.
Dear child, growing up is about experiencing struggle and identification
The "Dear Kids" series also focuses on and reveals many secrets of growth. Growth occurs unconsciously, the height of the tall is obvious, so what is the deeper growth?
The author thinks dialectically about growth, such as some children who are happy when they grow up, and they think: "It's good to grow up, free, able to decide everything for themselves!" Other children think the opposite: "It's not good to be too free as an adult, you have to decide everything yourself!" Soul torture.
In a way of depth and intensity, the author depicts the similarities and differences between the adult world and the children's world, and shows the true meaning of growth one by one. However, what can touch our hearts the most is still the beautiful imitation of the children's world, because the children's broad inner world, sincerity and love for the world and self can lead us to inspire us to feel the vastness and beauty of the world. As the book says, planting a secret in the heart field, even if you grow up, will be touched by small things, such as a ray of sunshine, or a snowflake.
Of course, each individual is unique and independent, and the joys and pains of growing up are different. Therefore, true growth must be respectful of the individual and individuality, the attainment of self-identification and self-realization.
Illustration of "Dear Glass Child".
"Dear Glass Child" shows the struggle and identity of a unique child in the process of growing up. The girl named Giselle was a glass child, and she was transparent. This difference brings her outward attention, but also lays hidden worries, because she can't have "secrets", and her innermost thoughts, even if there is only a trace of darkness, can be easily seen.
Giselle's ups and downs, she felt the voice and judgment of the outside, and also experienced the usual growth pattern of the protagonist of children's literature: at home - away from home - home, from weak to strong. Finally, one day, when she was no longer tense all over her body, had the courage to return to her hometown that brought her hurt and pain, and knew the life she wanted, she completed the real growth.
After all, the so-called growth is to accept the self, listen to and respond to the inner voice, find the balance and harmony of the self, and not be afraid of external vision and judgment. "Fragile, bright, transparent, not solid, but bold and firm. Yes, all of this, it was her. This is the ideal that growth should look like — every dear child can bravely grow up and maintain a complete, rich and diverse self.
As the philosophical opening words of Dear Little Child: "The child is a little man... Children don't just be children forever, one day, they will change their appearance. "Yes, dear children will meet the bright side, vigorous and joyful, brave and resolute. When the voices of childhood fade away sound again and again, when defending childhood becomes a cultural proposition, we hesitate and look back. But we who have grown up, especially parents, should pay more attention to the power of the present, trust the main body power of dear children, let their little souls have more free space to explore, and work with them to create a free and fulfilling childhood with joy.
Written by | Hulina
Edit | Shen Chan
Introduction Proofreading | Li Ming