posted on 28 Mar 2022

Dearest One by Arielle Dance, illustrated by Jenny Duke

Picture Books from Lantana Publishing never disappoint so I relished reading this one that promised to ‘Imagine the words your grandmother might say if she wrote you a letter …’

The vibrant front cover says it all as it shows an elderly hand holding a pen writing on paper with a photo of a smiling girl wearing a rainbow T-shirt adjacent. The other corner shows bright orange flowers in a cheerful blue and white striped jug. I love the way that all the images are cropped and angled to just show enough, but not all of the details creating an immediate feeling of intimacy and closeness.

The first turn of the page shows us the warmth of the relationship between the grandmother and her grandchild as they hug one another. Every subsequent double page spread is a treat with the text embedded in the richly coloured illustrations. Every one of them is gorgeous but here are three of my favourites:

Turn your face to the sun

These pages repeat the soft orange from the cover which suffuses the background with the girl shown watering huge Sunflowers against a blazing white sun advising her to ‘ plant kindness wherever you go’.

Choose your path

Here we see the girl looking intently at a street map as she looks at the many different paths she might choose to follow. Once again the colour palette is limited but dramatic in contrast to her abundant black hair and the plain back of her white T shirt. The wise words tell her that ‘Your life will be full of choices. There will be curves and stumbles, but the path you choose will be the right one because it’s yours’.

Remember who you are

This one returns to the cover scenario but this time shows the two looking at a photo album together. Once again the closeness of their relationship is emphasised by the size of the image and the way in which they are bound together by looking at the same book. Now we can see the jug of orange flowers beside them and the photo. I look forward to tracing back some of these details to the previous pages when looking at it with young children. The message on these pages is very powerful:

‘You hold the magic of your ancestors within you.

We are with you, guiding your path.

Remember to tell our stories and pass them on’. 

As a grandmother myself I am increasingly aware of my responsibility to pass on words of wisdom to my three young grandchildren. This beautiful picture book will certainly give me some inspiration. It should be available in all good bookshops but can otherwise be ordered direct  from www.lantanapublishing.com

 

Karen Argent

March 2022