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"Garmann's Summer" by Stian Hole

Author:

Stian Hole

Publisher:

Eerdmans, 2006

The jacket art, done in photographic collage, a techniques used throughout this book, forces viewers to wonder: who is this child; why is he standing in water; and how does this introduce the way the story will unfold? An (unnamed) sense of temporality pervades this book, beginning on the opening spread: summer is coming to an end and with it, the lives of the grasshoppers and mosquitos mentioned. With this comes fear—a thread running through the book is: what makes each of the characters scared?

The art is deliciously strange: why is Garmann’s head too large for his body, why is Elvis riding on the bus which will take Garmann to school? Some parts of the art are naturalistic, but many parts are unusual. For example, look at the picture of the little boy with an x ray of his torso, including the butterflies mentioned in the text. The aunt’s dentures in a glass of water seem unsettlingly, though vaguely ominous, while the neighbor girls, Hannah and Johanna, are truly ominous looking.

When Garmann confronts the temporality of his aunts (“Are you going to die soon?”) this leads him to explore fear and the different things which make people scared. Many years ago, Maurice Sendak commented that the world can be a scary place for children, and the author deals effectively with this.

When readers finish the book, they’ll be aware that this is distinctive, not like any other picture book they’ve seen. And that alone is reason enough to recommend it. Most picture books don’t break boundaries: this one does. That’s undoubtedly one reason it was awarded the Bologna Ragazzi Award. Too few picture books cause readers to think in new ways. This one certainly challenges us to do that. The publisher is to be commended for bringing this to adventurous readers.