posted on 02 Oct 2022

Maybe You Might by Imogen Foxell, illustrated by Anna Cunha

I recognised Anna Cunha's award-winning and distinctive illustrative style as soon as I saw the book cover. Some time ago I reviewed A Story About Afiya by James Berry which has drawings by Cunha and it remains one of my all-time favourite unusual picture books. 

This one is an impressive debut picture book by a different author, Imogen Foxell and is another story about a quiet and serious rosy cheeked girl who is determined to change the world.

I like her powerful inner voice that is conveyed through a lyrical poem that perfectly matches the illustrations dominating each double page spread.  She is very concerned about what she sees all about her, because she lives in a country that is hot, dry and lacking in vegetation. But this sadness soon shifts because after a couple of pages, she becomes hopeful:

‘ …I found a seed.

It wasn’t much to look at.

The chances were so slight

That it would come to anything,

But still…

                              … maybe it might’.

She goes on to nurture and cherish the seed until it begins to grow. As in all good stories, things seem to ripen at an accelerated speed, so that before much time has passed, it has become a huge tree laden with pomegranate fruit. More seeds are planted and a forest of trees grows all around. Even when disaster strikes and some trees get blown down, the optimism continues and the forest flourishes. The river flows again and birds, animals and bees fill the land and flood the pages with muted colours. It seems that the world is a potentially rich and fertile place no matter where you live.

The Pomegranate is of course a very important fruit in Greek, Roman and Persian mythologies as a symbol of life, beauty, hope and eternal life. The way in which the fruit is shown split in half with the gorgeous berries packed inside on one side of the page with a heavily pregnant woman lying beneath the tree, and then representing lots of perfect little houses on the facing page is cleverly succinct. 

I can see this beautiful book being shared with young children as a way to reassure them about all the ongoing stories about climate change that can be frightening. This tells them that they can do small things to make a difference and that planting and caring for trees is something they can all help with. Apart from this important underlying message, it has a calm, slow atmosphere to be relished and enjoyed.

Strongly recommended. 

Karen Argent

October 2022